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The  Workers’  Bookshelf 


WOMEN  AND  THE 
LABOR  MOVEMENT 


ALICE  HENRY 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2016 


https://archive.org/details/womenlabormoveme01henr 


1 


WOMEN  AND 
THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


BY 

ALICE  HENRY 

ME5IBIIH  OP  THE  AMEBICAN  PEDEBATION  OP  TEACHEE8 
8BCEKTABT,  EDHCATIONAi  DEPABTMENT,  NATIONAL  WOMEn’b  TRADE  DNIOH  LEAGB* 


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NEW  ^tSir  YORK 
GEORGE  H.  DORAN  COMPANY 


COPYRIGHT,  1923, 

BY  GEORGE  H,  DORAN  COMPANY 


WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT,  HI 


PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 


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TO 

MY  BROTHER  ALFRED 


IN  AUSTRALIA 
FAR  AWAY  IN  DISTANCE 
VERY  NEAR  IN  THOUGHT 


PREFACE 


/ If  the  inhabitants  of  Earth  were  all  of  one  sex,  it  might 
i be  a much  duller  world.  It  would  assuredly  be  a much 
I simpler  world  to  run,  an  easier  world  to  understand.  It 
/ would  probably  be  a less  changeful  world. 

Yet  how  far  less  interesting! 

The  editors  of  this  series  understand  that  the  presence  of 
women  in  modern  industry  does  add  to  the  complexity  of 
industrial  problems,  problems  which  men  and  women  have 
to  solve  and  to  solve  together.  They  therefore  desired  to 
include  in  the  series  some  statement  of  the  activities  of 
women  in  the  labor  movement  of  the  United  States. 

When  they  invited  me  to  write  a brief  account  of  a large 
subject,  I gladly  agreed,  even  although  on  the  understand- 
ing that  the  time  allowed  for  preparation  was,  in  proportion, 
briefer  still. 

I am  therefore  the  more  indebted  to  those  who  made  the 
completion  of  the  undertaking  possible,  by  generously  giv- 
ing information  and  assistance.  I especially  wish  to  thank 
the  staff  of  the  Women’s  Bureau  and  the  officers  of  the 
National  Women’s  Trade  Union  League  for  such  co- 
operation. 

Dr.  John  B.  Andrews’  “History  of  Women  in  Trade 
Unions,”  Vol.  X of  the  Federal  Report  on  Woman  and 
Child  Wage  Earners,  remains  the  standard  work  of  refer- 
ence on  the  early  attempts  of  women  to  organize  and  bar- 
gain collectively,  although  other  authorities  on  women  in 
industry  have  been  consulted  and  are  listed  as  references. 

vii 


PREFACE 


viii 

All  important  organizations  with  women  members, 
whether  within  or  without  the  American  Federation  of 
Labor,  have  been  communicated  with,  but  not  all  of  the 
oflBcials  addressed  have  responded. 

The  accounts  of  the  newer  organizations  are  taken 
chiefly  from  their  own  oflBcial  literature  and  printed  records 
of  their  experiences  and  activities.  Efforts  were  made  also 
to  secure  other  points  of  view,  but  not  always  with  success. 

I desire  to  thank  the  editors  of  the  New  Republic  for 
permission  to  quote  the  editorial  upon  the  Women’s  Division 
in  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.  John  Davidson’s  poem 
“To  the  Generation  Knocking  at  the  Door”  is  reprinted 
by  permission  of  the  English  publisher,  E.  Grant  Richards. 

Among  those  who  have  thus  kindly  assisted  me  in  revis- 
ing different  sections  are  Professor  Robert  H.  Lowie,  Miss 
S.  P.  Breckinridge,  Mrs.  Irene  Osgood  Andrews,  Miss  Mary 
Van  Kleeck,  Dr.  Alice  Hamilton,  Dr.  Leo  Wolman,  Miss 
Mary  W.  Dewson,  Professor  Paul  H.  Douglas,  Mrs.  Mary 
Kenney  O’Sullivan,  Miss  Anne  Withington,  and  the  oflBcers 
of  almost  all  the  international  unions  with  women  members, 
which  have  been  dealt  with  here. 

I record  here  my  thanks  to  Miss  Sarah  C.  Rippey,  to 
Miss  Gail  Wilson,  and  to  Miss  Frances  Bird  and  other 
friends  for  additional  assistance. 

A few  pages  have  seen  the  light  previously,  in  Life  and 
Labor  and  elsewhere. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  cover  so  much  fresh  ground 
without  falling  into  some  error.  May  I ask  it  as  a favor 
from  readers  that  they  will  be  so  kind  as  to  let  me  know 
when  they  come  across  any  such  evidence  of  familiar 
human  fallibility? 


June,  1923. 


Alice  Henry. 


INTRODUCTION 


At  this  moment  it  is  important,  as  never  before,  that  the 
question  of  the  employment  of  women  in  the  industries  of 
this  country  should  be  dealt  with  in  a sane  and  reasonable 
fashion,  and  to  that  end  it  is  essential  that  the  opinions  of 
the  women  who  do  the  work  should  be  canvassed  and 
listened  to.  There  is  no  better  way  of  learning  these  views 
than  as  these  are  expressed  through  those  women  who  are 
organized  into  unions;  because  time  and  experience  have 
enabled  them  to  form  and  express  convictions  upon  women’s 
special  diflBculties,  and  also  in  a measure  to  handle  those 
difficulties  as  they  arise  locally.  Besides,  they  are  the  only 
women  quite  free  to  express  opinions  without  paying  for 
freedom  of  speech  in  the  Toss  of  a job. 

When  power  machinery  was  introduced  into  the  United 
States  somewhat  over  a hundred  years  ago,  women  were 
drawn  into  the  service  of  machine  industry.  They  came 
into  it  haphazard,  and  with  no  anticipation  on  the  part  of 
employer,  fellow-workmen  or  the  community  of  what  this 
was  going  to  mean  to  women  themselves,  or  to  the  men 
beside  whom  they  worked.  So  that  modern  industry,  while 
it  has  enormously  increased  production  of  everything  that 
can  be  grown  or  manufactured,  has  brought  with  it  a whole 
array  of  new  problems  and  new  dangers,  centering  around 
the  relation  of  woman  to  the  wage-earning  occupations.  She 
was  drawn  into  these  through  an  imperative  call,  the  taking 
away  out  of  the  home  of  those  traditional  trades,  such  as 
spinning  and  weaving,  which  had  ceased  to  be  hand  work, 
and  had  begun  to  be  operated  on  the  machine  basis;  then 


IX 


X 


INTRODUCTION 


into  a vast  number  of  new  trades,  such  as  office  work  or 
paper-box  making,  springing  out  of  the  development  of  city 
life,  and  the  unprecedented  growth  of  the  means  of  com- 
munication and  transportation.  Without  our  railways 
manufactured  goods  would  accumulate  on  the  hands  of  the 
maker  and  could  never  reach  the  customer,  near  or  distant. 
A certain  number  of  occupations,  from  time  immemorial 
pursued  by  men,  such  as  making  the  cores  in  foundries, 
and  carpentry  and  cabinetmaking  in  furniture  factories, 
are  now  employing  women.  All  these  before  any  of  the 
recent  war  developments. 

In  such  ways  and  many  more,  women  are  serving  the 
community;  and  the  community  takes  the  benefits  without 
enquiring  too  closely  what  is  the  cost  to  the  workers.  The 
community  has  been  even  slower  in  comprehending  that 
goods  produced  by  work  which  is  either  so  cruelly  hard  or 
so  badly  paid  that  the  worker’s  health  and  energy  are 
sapped,  are  sure  to  prove  in  the  long  run  a costly  indulgence 
for  the  community  itself.  When  the  purchaser  goes  into  a 
brightly  lighted,  well-stocked  candy  store  and  pays  a dollar 
or  two  dollars  for  a box  of  chocolate  creams,  it  rarely  dawns 
upon  the  purchaser,  on  paying  for  the  confection,  that 
something  more  than  sugar  and  chocolate  has  gone  into 
that  box,  the  life  force  of  the  young  dipper,  who  in  many 
cases  has  had  to  cover  one  piece  every  five  seconds,  for  ten 
hom-s  a day  six  days  a week,  and  even  so  has  been  able  to 
earn  but  15  cents  an  hour.  The  buyer  may  not  be  able  to 
help  the  girl  by  paying  more  for  her  candy,  but  she  can  help 
her  to  a larger  share  of  the  price  by  backing  trade  unions  for 
women,  and  by  insisting  on  the  minimum  wage  and  shorter 
hours  by  law. 

^These  lamentable  conditions  should  be  brought  to  an 
early  end.  Society  must  realize  how  disgraceful,  how 
dangerous  it  is  that  so  many  thousands  of  women  should 


INTRODUCTION 


xi 


so  spend  the  promise  of  their  youth  in  earning  five  or  six 
dollars  a week,  that  they  should  toil  chilled  by  cold  or 
exhausted  by  heat,  subjected  to  the  perils  of  unguarded 
machinery,  to  poisonous  fumes  or  to  the  moral  risks  that  so 
often  attend  unlimited  overtime  or  work  at  night.  1 How 
can  we  be  content  when  we  know  of  young  waitresses  who 
spend  seventy  hours  a week  in  striving  to  please  an  endless 
stream  of  customers? 

Again,  there  are  important  groups  of  women  who  are  ful- 
filling far  different  functions  in  the  community,  the  teachers 
who  play  year  by  year  a larger  part  in  the  upbringing  of 
the  next  generation,  the  nurses  and  attendants  who  watch 
over  the  sick  in  mind  and  body,  the  telephone  and  telegraph 
girls  who  annihilate  time  and  distance  for  us,  the  actresses 
who  minister  to  us  our  hours  of  recreation.  In  every  group 
are  some  women  who  are  feeling  the  common  impulse  to 
come  together,  to  recognize  that  an  injury  to  one  is  the 
concern  of  all.  Alone,  they,  too,  are  unable  to  handle  their 
peculiar  difficulties;  and  so  they  are  coming  to  know  that 
their  cause  is  one  with  that  of  the  poorest  paid  and  most 
unskilled.  If  our  democracy  is  to  be  the  real  democracy,  it 
must  afford  scope  to  human  development  in  every  form,  and 
for  this  end,  the  right  to  organize  and  make  the  collective 
bargain  must  be  conceded.  There  are  now  teachers’  asso- 
ciations affiliated  with  the  American  Federation  of  Labor, 
several  locals  of  hospital  attendants,  and  a large  organiza- 
tion of  telephone  operators. 

A common  social  inconsistency  is  seen  in  the  laudation  of 
motherhood,  and  the  supposed  value  laid  upon  motherhood 
as  a social  and  patriotic  function.  In  itself,  this  stressing 
of  woman’s  special  work  for  the  future  is  perfectly  just; 
only  it  so  often  ends  there.  If  motherhood,  a healthy  and 
intelligent  motherhood,  be  woman’s  unique  contribution  to 
the  body  politic,  then  common  sense  would  declare  that 


xii 


INTRODUCTION 


whatever  unfits  the  young  girl  or  the  mature  woman  for 
future  or  present  maternal  duties  is  at  all  costs  to  be  pre- 
vented. We  have  no  lack  of  evidence  that  overwork  of 
women,  and  the  underpay  both  of  men  and  women  them- 
selves and  of  men  who  have  families  to  support,  is  the  direct 
cause  both  of  the  loss  of  little  babies,  and  of  the  death  of 
mothers  in  the  very  act  of  giving  life. 

THE  FACTS 

1;  Women  are  in  industry  in  large  numbers  and  are  entering 
new  trades. 

2:  They  work  too  often  imder  inhuman  conditions. 

3:  For  the  most  part  they  are  unorganized  and  have  only  just 
acquired  the  power  of  the  vote.  Colored  women  in  many 
of  the  southern  states  are  still  practically  voteless. 

4:  Not  only  do  they  suffer  from  overwork  and  underpay,  but 
working  under  such  disadvantages,  they  necessarily  become 
underbidders  to  men,  and  seriously  weaken  what  ought  to 
be  the  sohd  front  of  organized  labor. 

5:  As  the  mothers  of  the  race,  they  are  being  injured  in  regard 
to  this  function. 

Much  can  be  accomplished  in  releasing  women  from  such 
inhuman  slavery,  by  the  efforts  of  trade  union  women 
backed  by  labor  men  and  by  those  men  and  women  outside 
of  the  labor  movement  to  whom  has  been  vouchsafed  a 
knowledge  of  the  facts  and  sympathy  with  those  who  suffer 
under  such  evils  and  maladjustments. 

It  is  usually  admitted  that  human  beings  are  what  they 
are  by  reason  of  their  ability  to  think  and  feel,  and  that  it 
is  through  the  exercise  of  that  power  that  progress  takes 


INTRODUCTION 


xiii 


place.  But  our  industries  are  mostly  run  upon  the  sup- 
position that  the  dead  material  is  everything,  and  the  living, 
breathing  human  being’s  interests  and  welfare  are  of  sec- 
ondary importance.  The  trade  union  views  matters  differ- 
ently, and  lays  stress  upon  the  importance  of  the  human 
element,  and  upon  all  that  is  best  in  the  human  element.  It 
sees  in  wages  not  the  mere  price  of  so  many  hours’  labor,  to 
be  spent  in  the  purchase  of  food,  clothing  and  shelter,  but 
the  means  through  which  freedom  of  mind,  education,  home 
and  the  very  joy  of  life  is  to  be  won  and  held.  In  overtime 
there  is  the  risk  to  life  and  health,  the  increased  danger  of 
accident,  the  lessened  resistance  to  disease,  the  blotting  out 
of  any  possibility  of  growth  for  the  higher  faculties,  which 
work  has  numbed  and  cramped. 

The  trade  union  is  a school  wherein  no  one  lives  unto 
herself.  The  members  learn  to  consider  every  question  from 
the  point  of  view  of  the  general  good;  they  have  often  to 
compromise,  to  balance  the  lesser  advantage  against  the 
greater.  They  have  to  make  important  decisions  and  abide 
by  the  results.  They  appreciate  the  benefits  of  co-operative 
effort,  and  the  futility  of  individual  struggle  against  eco- 
nomic and  social  forces.  They  acquire  a practical  knowl- 
edge of  labor  legislation  as  it  works  out,  and  can  offer 
useful  suggestions  as  to  its  improvement.  Therefore  is  the 
trade  imion,  backed  as  it  is  by  the  whole  labor  movement, 
a powerful  protection  for  the  woman  worker,  ensuring  her 
shorter  hours,  higher  wages  and  a larger  share  of  industrial 
freedom.  The  girl  who  graduates  from  this  school  is  pre- 
pared to  accept  the  new  responsibilities  of  citizenship,  which 
are  fast  coming  to  all  women.  Besides  carrying  a contribu- 
tion of  value  into  that  larger  public  life,  every  group  of 
trade  union  women  exerts  a powerful  infiuence  upon  its 
unorganized  fellow  workers;  while  as  voters  they  present 
to  legislators  a certain  concrete  expression  of  what  is 


xiv 


INTRODUCTION 


desired  by  the  best  type  of  woman  worker,  both  in  indus- 
trial matters  and  in  many  questions  of  civic  life,  such  as 
city  government  and  school  affairs. 

The  very  difficulties  with  which  we  are  surrounded  should 
afford  us  a larger  perspective,  and  stimulate  our  every 
effort.  Around  the  nucleus  of  the  trades  which  have  partly 
organized  their  women,  like  the  sewing  trades,  there  is  the 
vast  army  of  the  unskilled  who  know  no  trade  union,  the 
packers  and  the  pickers,  the  carriers  of  burdens,  the  counters 
of  change,  the  bundle  girls,  the  domestic  servants,  the 
women  in  the  canneries,  in  the  cotton  fields,  in  the  cranberry 
swamps.  Many  of  these  are  non-English-speaking  foreign 
women,  others  are  colored  women,  alike  in  their  industrial 
loneliness,  in  their  helplessness,  in  the  exploitation  from 
which  they  suffer. 

The  submissive  qualities  which  long  centuries  of  economic 
dependence  have  engrained  into  woman’s  being  were  a 
fatal  heritage  to  her  when  she  entered  modern  industry  as 
a wage-earner.  It  meant  that  girls  gave  in  to  exaction  after 
exaction;  they  became,  without  intending  it,  the  under- 
bidders of  men;  they  have  been  used  to  break  strikes,  and 
to  lower  the  standards  of  life,  both  for  themselves  and  for 
entire  trades.  But  educate  her  through  the  trade  union  to 
know  the  meaning  of  speeding  up,  the  reason  that  she  must 
not  accept  uncomplainingly  every  cut  in  wages,  and  the 
devotion  that  she  has  shown  in  her  individual  and  family 
relations  will  take  on  a wider  meaning,  and  in  loyalty  to 
her  fellows  she  can  display  a larger  imselfishness  and  a 
nobler  patriotism. 

The  trade  agreement  with  the  employer  is  ever  the  best 
channel  for  making  complaints  or  suggesting  improvements. 
Through  that  method,  all  girls  can  speak  and  be  heard 
when  the  individual  worker  is  voiceless  and  dumb. 

The  trade  union  is  a training  school  in  the  finer  virtues. 


INTRODUCTION 


XV 


The  trade  union  woman  grows  in  intelligence,  because  in 
her  dealings  with  her  employers  she  learns  to  know  herself 
as  part  of  a larger  movement.  She  acquires  greater  patience, 
because  she  has  the  opportunity  of  learning  what  some  of 
her  employer’s  difficulties  are. 

Great  have  been  the  changes  of  the  last  few  years  in 
every  corner  of  the  field  of  industry,  and  no  group  has  been 
more  vitally  affected  by  these  changes  than  the  women 
wage-earners. 

With  the  fuller  development  of  industry,  the  tendency 
has  been  to  draw  women  into  many  occupations  and  into 
many  processes  hitherto  considered  the  domain  of  men. 
This  tendency  was  accelerated  by  the  exigencies  of  the  war, 
when  arsenals  and  machinery  plants  were  filled  with  women 
and  girls,  when  elevators  were  first  run  by  women,  railway 
cars  first  washed  by  women;  and  all  this  often  in  defiance 
of  preconceived  ideas  of  what  was  woman’s  work.  The 
coming  of  peace  has  not  meant  altogether  the  slipping  back 
' to  the  old  divisions  of  labor,  although  it  has  meant  very 
serious  dislocation  of  industry,  and  great  confusion,  both 
in  the  rearranging  of  plants,  and  in  the  rearranging  of  lives, 
nor  is  the  difficulty  at  an  end. 

Almost  all  the  industrial  occupations  into  which  women 
of  recent  years  have  made  their  way  are  organizable  trades ; 
in  that  they  are  trades  in  which  there  already  exists  a trade 
union,  and  therefore  the  women  at  once  become  of  impor- 
tance to  the  labor  movement,  seen  as  either  possible  present 
underbidders,  or  possible  future  trade  union  members. 

Further,  there  are  the  occupations  in  which  women  have 
been  engaged  for  years,  into  which  the  spirit  of  organization 
has  only  very  lately  begun  to  creep.  These  are  the  occupa- 
tions in  which  are  found  the  girls  at  the  switchboard,  the 
women  in  the  schoolhouse,  the  performers  on  the  stage,  and 
the  employes  of  the  Government, 


XVI 


INTRODUCTION 


The  standardizing  by  law  of  wages  and  hours  has  made 
considerable  advance  during  the  last  ten  years.  This  is 
chiefly  needed  by  the  unorganized  women  in  the  poorer 
trades ; but  it  is  backed  everywhere  by  trade  unionists  with- 
out whose  aid  such  legislation  would  have  been  almost  im- 
possible of  attainment.  The  establishment  of  the  Women’s 
Bureau  is  in  itself  an  achievement  of  no  small  importance, 
and  can  be  credited  to  women,  especially  the  women  of  the 
trade  unions,  supported  by  trade  union  men  and  by  women’s 
clubs,  and  other  sympathetic  organizations. 

The  political  enfranchisement  of  women  has  coincided 
with  the  industrial  changes  and  undoubtedly  has  greatly 
strengthened  the  position  of  the  wage-earning  woman, 
whether  trade  unionist  or  non-trade  unionist,  and  will 
strengthen  it  still  further  when  in  course  of  years  the  new 
voters  learn  how  to  make  full  use  of  this  as  yet  imfamiliar 
tool. 

Women  are  being  caught  up  by  the  movement  for  edu- 
cation, and  numerous  are  the  requests  they  make  for  in- 
formation as  to  their  rights  and  responsibilities.  Nor  do 
all  of  these  requests  come  from  women.  Men,  too,  in  great 
number  are  realizing  that  these  co-workers  of  theirs  are 
here  to  stay.  Being  here  to  stay,  it  is  desirable  that  they 
should  be  partners  in  industry  upon  an  honorable  and  self- 
respecting  footing. 

The  status  of  women  has  up  to  the  present  been  one  of 
the  most  unsatisfactory  elements  in  the  labor  question. 
Into  one  trade  after  another  have  women  been  pitchforked. 
Training  was  the  last  thing  they  were  expected  to  need, 
unless  indeed  that  was  wages.  Only  a long  and  weary  fight 
has  brought  about  for  a selected  few  better  pay  and  shorter 
hours.  The  rest  are  still  the  underbidders  of  men,  over- 
worked, underpaid,  and  too  often  killed  or  wrecked  in  their 
early  womanhood  before  the  very  eyes  of  a society  too 


INTRODUCTION  xvii 

stupid  to  value  aright  the  life  of  a young  girl  or  a young 
mother. 

But  whispers  come  to  us,  whispers  of  discontent  in  quar- 
ters where  it  was  least  expected,  and  when  the  dumb  start 
speaking,  they  have  unexpected  things  to  tell  us. 

Although  the  aim  here  is  to  trace  woman’s  connection 
with  the  labor  movement  as  herself  an  active  worker,  women 
have  in  the  past  continually  strengthened  the  labor  move- 
ment indirectly  through  their  support  of  the  men  of  their 
families ; this  is  seen  most  markedly  in  strikes,  lockouts  and 
long  periods  of  unemployment.  They  have  sometimes  borne 
the  hardest  share  because  the  men  at  least  had  some  power 
of  decision  and  could  exert  themselves,  if  they  had  power  of 
leadership,  in  leading  others.  For  the  women,  there  was 
nothing  left  but  endurance,  endurance  of  the  poverty  that 
comes  in  the  train  of  every  industrial  struggle,  that  strips 
home  of  its  little  comforts,  that  often  brings  sickness  and 
even  death  into  the  home.  It  is  the  same  now  for  the  wives 
of  the  miners  in  the  strike-affected  districts  where  unionism 
is  still  taboo.  The  wives  of  the  striking  shopmen  in  many 
a railway  center  are  today,  through  this  very  endurance  and 
loyal  support  of  their  men,  making  a notable  contribution 
towards  the  strength  of  the  labor  movement. 

There  have  been  also  a few  women  like  Mother  Jones, 
who,  although  they  have  not  contributed  specially  towards 
the  strengthening  of  the  labor  movement  among  women, 
have  proved  themselves  notable  leaders  of  men’s  groups. 


CONTENTS 


TAGS 

PREFACE vii 

INTRODUCTION ix 

CHAPTER 

I  PRIMITIVE  WOMAN  IN  INDUSTRY 23 

II  THE  COLONIAL  WOMAN 31 

III  WOMEN  AND  MACHINE  INDUSTRY 37 

^ IV  WOMEN  IN  SOME  MODERN  TRADE  UNIONS  ....  57 

V  WOMEN  IN  SOME  MODERN  TRADE  UNIONS 

(continued) 85 

VI  A NEW  DEVELOPMENT  IN  ORGANIZATION — THE 

women’s  trade  union  league 106 

VII  INDUSTRIAL  LEGISLATION 123 

VIII  THE  MINIMUM  WAGE 143 

IX  THE  women’s  bureau 166 

y X WORKING  WOMEN  AND  THE  WAR 186 

XI  THE  NEGRO  WOMAN 202 

XII  INTERNATIONAL  FEDERATION  OF  WORKING  WOMEN  212 

XIII  CONCLUSION  229 

SOURCE  LIST  OF  REFERENCES  AND  READING  . . 232 
INDEX  235 


XIS 


WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR 
MOVEMENT 


Chapter  I 

PRIMITIVE  WOMAN  IN  INDUSTRY 

For  many  years  scientific  men  have  been  studying  the 
more  primitive  peoples,  and  have  thrown  much  light  upon 
those  early  forefathers  of  the  race.  The  geologist  has  foimd 
among  the  rocks  faint  traces  of  human  existence.  The 
archaeologist  has  collected  crude  tools  and  garments, 
remnants  of  early  homes,  and  records  clear  for  him  to  read, 
of  their  culture.  In  these  researches  woman  and  her  doings 
have  not  been  entirely  overlooked.  Even  as  far  back  as 
the  Roman  historians  we  find  evidence  that  woman’s  share 
in  those  early  beginnings  of  civilization  was  too  important 
to  be  ignored.  Still  it  is  only  lately,  however,  that  woman’s 
part  in  the  making  of  the  world  of  that  day  and  in  the 
preparing  of  the  world  as  we  know  it  now  in  our  day,  has 
received  close  and  careful  attention.  There  is  still  a great 
deal  of  work  to  be  done  before  so  vast  a field  can  be  thor- 
oughly explored. 

A small  group  of  scientists  has  of  recent  years  laid  special 
emphasis  upon  primitive  woman,  and  through  their  re- 
searches and  writings  we  are  now  able  to  build  up  a fairly 
clear  pictme  of  how  great  is  the  debt  owed  to  her. 

The  first,  as  far  as  I know,  among  writers  in  the  English 

23 


24  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


language,  to  draw  attention  to  the  discoveries  and  the 
achievements  of  those  early  creators  of  civilization  was 
Otis  T.  Mason,  in  “Woman’s  Share  in  Primitive  Culture,” 
published  in  1894,  and  still  referred  to  as  an  authority. 
Mr.  Mason  shows  how  extensive  and  xmceasing  were  the 
labors  of  the  women  of  those  early  times,  and  how  success- 
ful they  were  in  utilizing  the  crude  materials  at  their  hand, 
for  the  support  of  their  families  and  for  the  enriching  of  life. 

With  wealth  of  illustration  he  has  recorded  and  in- 
terpreted for  us  their  achievements  as  food  bringers,  weav- 
ers and  basket-makers,  their  skill  in  turning  the  skins  of 
animals  to  good  purpose,  in  making  the  first  clay  vessels  to 
hold  food,  or  to  be  transformed  into  things  of  beauty  by 
some  primitive  magic  of  decoration,  for  they  were  artists 
too.  Women  were  the  first  linguists;  they  were,  even  in 
those  early  days,  the  founders  of  society  and  its  con- 
servators. 

Otis  T.  Mason  has  been  followed  by  such  investigators 
as  William  I.  Thomas,  Lester  F.  Ward,  Thorstein  B.  Veblen, 
John  M.  Tyler,  Elsie  Worthington  Parsons,  while  Charlotte 
Perkins  Gilman,  Catherine  Gasquoine  Gallichan  and  others 
have  popularized  much  of  the  same  material. 

Writers  may  differ  profoundly  as  to  the  degree  of  women’s 
importance  and  power  in  the  society  of  their  day  in  pre- 
historic and  early  historic  times,  but  they  are  unanimous 
in  according  to  average  woman  the  credit  for  being  the 
mother  of  the  arts,  the  pioneer  in  culture  and  the  architect 
of  the  pristine  community.  The  man  in  those  early  days 
was,  it  is  agreed,  a much  simpler  being  than  his  mate.  He 
wandered  far  afield  in  search  of  game  or  in  pursuit  of  his 
foes.  On  the  surface,  one  would  say  that  he  was  the  ad- 
venturous one.  But  with  hunting  and  fighting  he  reached 
the  limit  of  his  adventures.  It  was  woman,  apparently  so 
tied  down  and  limited  by  the  claims  of  her  children,  who 


PRIMITIVE  WOMAN  IN  INDUSTRY 


25 


after  all  was  to  find  fullest  scope  for  her  energies.  In  that 
day  to  stay  at  home  was  to  be  the  inventor,  the  discoverer, 
the  teacher,  the  leader.  Fison  and  Howitt  (quoted  by 
many  authorities)  put  it  most  tersely  when  they  say,  speak- 
ing of  the  Australian  aborigines,  “A  man  hunts,  spears  fish 
and  sits  about.  All  the  rest  is  woman’s  work.”  Thorstein 
Veblen,  speaking  generally,  expresses  it  thus:  “Fighting,  to- 
gether with  other  work  that  involves  a serious  element  of 
exploration,  becomes  the  employment  of  the  able-bodied 
men;  the  uneventful  everyday  work  of  the  group  falls  to 
the  woman  and  the  infirm.” 

As  long  as  the  man  had  to  expend  most  of  his  energies  in 
such  exhausting  pursuits  as  hunting  and  fighting,  he  was 
compelled  to  rest,  to  idle  during  his  hours  or  days  near  the 
primitive  fireside.  Meanwhile  women  were  becoming  of 
constantly  increasing  value  to  men  because  they  were 
producers. 

Woman’s  work  might  on  the  whole  be  just  as  hard,  but 
she  did  pot  have  to  expend  her  energy  so  violently  andl 
within  such  brief  periods,  so  that  she  had  more  time  and 
more  thought  to  give  to  those  domestic  arts,  which  she 
pursued  for  the  sake  of  her  man  and  her  children.  Mother- 
hood was  the  great  teacher.  For  the  infant  the  mother 
exerted  all  her  powers  of  invention,  all  her  quickness  and 
resourcefulness  in  utilizing  what  she  found  to  her  hand. 

Professor  Thomas  (“Sex  and  Society”)  points  out  that 
one  of  the  most  remarkable  and  unexpected  results  of 
woman’s  performance  of  the  great  function  of  home-maker 
was  not  only  to  make  of  her,  as  we  have  shown,  the  first 
weaver,  the  first  artificer,  the  first  artist,  the  first  gardener. 
This  had  another  reaction,  one  quite  as  important;  it  made 
of  her  a more  highly  developed  being,  a being  socially 
more  advanced  and  far  fitter  for  her  high  task,  the  train- 
ing of  children,  and  the  advancing  if  by  ever  so  little  of 


26  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


the  next  generation  on  the  path  toward  civilization.  She 
had  more  or  less  to  associate  together  with  her  fellow- 
women  and  with  the  growing  children  and  therefore  she 
rose  in  culture. 

While  much  of  the  knowledge  that  we  have  gained  about 
primitive  woman  comes  from  digging  into  the  remote  past, 
let  us  not  forget  that  primitive  woman  exists  still,  although 
at  a somewhat  advanced  stage  of  culture.  Many  infer- 
ences drawn  from  the  silent  record  of  the  past  have  been 
checked,  interpreted  and  confirmed  by  the  observations  of 
explorers  and  travelers.  A few  instances  of  these  will 
illustrate  what  is  meant.  They  are  the  more  striking  be- 
cause they  are  taken  from  peoples  widely  separated,  and 
not  at  all  akin.  MacDonald  thus  describes  the  customs  of 
East  Central  Africa:  “The  work  is  done  chiefly  by  the 
women.  This  is  universal.  They  hoe  the  fields,  sow  the 
seed  and  reap  the  harvest.  To  them  too  falls  the  labor  of 
house  building,  grinding  corn,  brewing  beer,  cooking,  wash- 
ing and  caring  for  all  the  material  interests  of  the  com- 
munity. The  men  tend  the  cattle,  hunt,  go  to  war;  they 
also  spend  much  time  sitting  in  council  over  the  conduct 
of  affairs.”  Mrs.  Gallichan  (“The  Age  of  Mother-Power”) 
tells  how  one  traveler  saw  the  women  in  the  Pelew  Islands 
as  the  agricultmists  of  the  tribe: 

In  the  Pelew  Islands  women  are  most  important  because  they 
work  the  taro  fields.  The  richest  woman  in  the  village  looks  with 
pride  on  her  taro  patch,  and  although  she  has  female  followers 
enough  to  allow  her  to  merely  superintend  the  work  without  tak- 
ing part  in  it,  she  nevertheless  prefers  to  lay  aside  her  fine  apron 
and  to  betake  herself  to  the  field,  merely  clad  in  a small  apron 
that  barely  hides  her  nakedness  with  a little  mat  on  her  back  to 
protect  her  from  the  boiling  heat  of  the  sun,  and  with  a shade  of 
banana  leaves  for  her  eyes.  There,  dripping  with  sweat  in  the 
burning  sim,  and  coated  with  mud  to  the  hips  and  down  to  the 


PRIMITIVE  WOMAN  IN  INDUSTRY 


27 


elbow,  she  toils  to  set  the  younger  woman  a good  example. 
Moreover,  as  in  every  other  occupation,  the  kahtho,  the  gods, 
must  be  invoked  and  who  could  be  better  fitted  for  the  discharge 
of  so  important  a duty  as  the  mother  of  the  house? 

Thorstein  Veblen  in  his  “Instinct  of  Workmanship,”  in 
speaking  of  the  beginnings  of  agriculture,  dwells  upon 
woman’s  innate  liking  for  and  interest  in  young  growing 
things. 

Now,  as  has  already  been  said,  the  scheme  of  life  of  the  crops 
and  flocks  is,  at  least  in  the  main,  and  particularly  so  far  as  it 
vitally  and  always  interests  their  keepers,  a scheme  of  fecundity, 
fertility  and  growth.  But  these  matters  visibly  and  by  conscious 
sentiment,  pertain  in  a peculiarly  intimate  sense  to  the  woman. 
They  are  matters  in  which  the  sympathetic  insight  and  fellow 
feeling  of  womankind  should  m the  nature  of  things  come  very 
felicitously  to  further  the  propitious  course  of  things.  Besides 
which,  the  life  of  the  woman  falls  in  these  same  lines  of  fecundity, 
nature  and  growth,  so  that  their  association  and  attendance  on 
the  flocks  and  groups  should  further  the  propitious  course  of 
things,  also  by  the  subtler  means  of  sympathetic  suggestion. 

\ Tyler  (“New  Stone  Age  in  Northern  Europe”)  leads  up  to 
women’s  importance  in  agriculture.  The  evidence  of  that 
period  shows  the  women  as  the  inventors  and  discoverers 
of  the  household  crafts  as  well  as  most  of  our  science.  Be- 
cause they  were  the  first  herbalists,  they  were  the  first 
household  physicians.  In  the  care  of  children  they  were 
compelled  to  be  alert,  quick  minded,  ready  for  all  sorts  of 
emergencies. 

The  woman  provided  the  vegetable  food  as  well  as  much  of  the 
animal,  and  became  the  first  gardener  and  farmer.  She  intro- 
duced tillage  of  the  ground,  and  thus  became  economically  by  far 
the  more  important  member  of  the  partnership,  and  she  probably 
had  by  far  the  more  alert,  quick-witted  brain. 


28  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


Further,  the  establishment  of  agriculture  gave  rise  to  the 
idea  of  the  earth  mother.  Savage  man  inclines  to  eat  the 
seed  corn  so  there  is  none  to  carry  over  to  the  next  season. 
It  has  been  diflBcult,  therefore,  to  introduce  agricultvue 
among  savage  peoples,  especially  among  nomadic  tribes. 
The  early  women  agriculturists  are  supposed  to  have  estab- 
lished the  idea  of  the  taboo  of  the  goddess.  Though  man 
would  not  control  his  appetites  so  as  to  save  the  corn  for 
planting,  he  did  yield  to  the  supernatural  warning.  The 
planting  of  crops  became  possible  and  this  in  the  end  led 
to  the  regular  settlement. 

Robert  H.  Lowie  in  “Primitive  Society”  analyzes  very 
carefully  the  great  amount  of  material  that  has  been 
brought  together  by  various  travelers,  and  interpreted  by 
men  of  science.  He  urges  the  greatest  caution  in  theorizing 
too  loosely  where  our  information  is  necessarily  so  incom- 
plete. He  shows  that  division  of  labor  between  the  sexes 
is  often  a conventional  thing.  The  Bantu  races  in  Africa 
do  not  permit  women  to  attend  to  the  herd ; whereas  Hotten- 
tot women  are  the  regular  milkers.  He  goes  on: — 

The  treatment  of  women  is  one  thing,  her  legal  status  another; 
her  opportunities  for  public  activities  still  another,  while  the 
character  and  extent  of  her  labors  belong  again  to  a distinct 
category. 

He  thinks  that  plain  borrowing  of  customs  is  a frequent 
reason  for  the  finding  of  similar  practices  over  wide  regions 
of  the  earth’s  surface.  How  else,  he  says,  can  we  account 
for  the  ceremonial  and  habitual  separation  of  the  sexes  as 
found,  in  its  extremest  form  in  the  Islands  of  the  Pacific, 
but  in  a degree,  characteristic  of  the  early  inhabitants  of  the 
entire  Pacific  Coast  of  North  America. 

Lowie  quotes  from  Bogoras  his  account  of  the  manner  of 
living  of  different  tribes  of  the  Chukchi,  a people  like  the 


PRIMITIVE  WOMAN  IN  INDUSTRY 


29 


Eskimo.  They  were  a maritime  community,  and  the  women 
took  little  active  part  in  the  earning  of  the  living,  but  ap- 
parently led  a comparatively  easy  and  non-productive  life. 
When  the  reindeer  was  introduced  among  them  a change 
took  place,  the  women  of  reindeer-owning  tribes  leading  a 
harder  life.  They  had,  however,  become  economically  more 
useful,  and  therefore  had  a better  prospect  of  an  inde- 
pendent existence. 

In  the  long  last  the  real  importance  of  any  individual  is 
in  proportion  to  his  or  her  usefulness  to  the  community.  No 
one  will  deny  that  the  early  mothers  of  the  race  were  of  a 
supreme  value  to  their  fellows.  What  we  call  today  the 
parasitic  woman  was  unknown.  The  parasitic  woman  is  of 
two  kinds,  it  is  true.  She  who  openly  lives  for  enjoyment 
and  is  of  use  to  no  mortal  being,  and  the  other,  far  more 
common,  who  simply  has  no  place  in  life,  is  supported  by 
some  man  and  does  nothing  useful  or  worthwhile  in  return, 
as  for  instance  an  unmarried  daughter  living  at  home  and 
doing  nothing  in  particular. 

It  seems  desirable  to  link  up  the  modern  industrial  woman 
with  her  far  past  ancestress.  It  is  indeed  with  a sense  of 
pride  that  we  working  women  of  today  can  look  back  to 
her.  Like  us,  she  worked,  worked  incessantly,  but  also, 
unlike  some  of  us,  she  was  a pioneer  and  a leader,  inventing 
and  progressing,  even  though  her  progress  was  probably 
invisible  to  herself  and  only  to  be  detected  in  the  long 
perspective  of  ages. 

Rudyard  Kipling,  in  “The  Cat  That  Walked  by  Himself,” 
gives  a vivid  and  dramatic  picture  of  primitive  woman’s 
resourcefulness,  although  the  particular  achievement  he 
chooses  with  which  to  make  his  point,  the  taming  of  ani- 
mals, happens  to  lie  in  a field  now  generally  assigned  to 
man.  He  is  perhaps  closer  to  the  truth  in  his  reading  of 
the  past,  when  he  credits  early  woman  with  being  an  agent 


30  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


in  the  process  of  taming  man  himself.  As  the  vision  of  the 
writer  sees  it,  “Of  course  the  man  was  dreadfully  wild  till 
he  met  the  woman,  and  she  told  him  that  she  did  not  like 
living  in  his  wild  ways.  She  picked  out  a nice  dry  cave, 
instead  of  a heap  of  wild  leaves  to  lie  down  on;  and  she 
strewed  clean  sand  on  the  floor;  and  she  lit  a nice  wood  fire 
at  the  back  of  the  cave;  and  she  hung  a dried  wild  horse 
skin,  tail  down,  across  the  opening  of  the  cave;  and  she 
said  ‘Wipe  your  feet,  dear,  when  you  come  in,  and  now  we 
will  keep  house.’  ” 


Chapter  II 


THE  COLONIAL  WOMAN 

If  primitive  womaB  is  to  us  an  inspiration  and  an  en- 
couragement, an  example  different  but  no  less  interesting  is 
set  us  modems  by  the  colonial  woman  of  our  own  country. 
Although  on  a very  different  level  of  culture  and  in  a far 
advanced  stage  of  civilization,  the  colonial  woman,  too,  was 
the  domestic  producer,  pursuing  many  of  the  very  same 
historic  trades.  As  in  primitive  days,  the  home  of  colonial 
times  was  essentially  a productive  institution  and  the  center 
of  the  productive  life  of  the  community.  Because  of  its 
economic  importance  everything  in  woman’s  life  centered 
around  the  home,  and  was  planned  with  reference  to  it. 
In  those  early  days  there  was  no  setting  aside  of  useless 
rooms ; all  the  spare  house  space  was  utilized  by  the  industry 
that  had  to  be  carried  on  within  it.  The  home  was  by  no 
means  merely  a place  to  live  in.  It  was  also  a place  in 
which  very  largely  the  living  was  earned,  and  the  goods 
produced  that  were  to  be  consumed  by  the  little  group 
within.  If  anyone  wishes  to  see  life  in  a form  something 
like  what  it  was  lived  before  the  Revolution,  he  may  travel 
now  into  the  remote  mountain  regions  of  Kentucky,  Tennes- 
see, Georgia  and  the  Carolinas.  Beyond  where  the  railroads 
have  run  out  into  dead  ends  in  the  little  valleys  far  away 
from  modern  life,  there  still  live  the  descendants  of  the 
early  colonial  settlers  of  those  regions.  Year  by  year  the 
old  life  is  disappearing,  as  schools,  improved  roads  and 
better  methods  of  marketing  are  introduced.  But  we  have 

31 


32  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


a proof  of  the  tenacity  with  which  the  home  industries 
and  domestic  production  have  maintained  themselves  in 
the  southern  mountains  in  that  the  products  of  these  verj- 
industries,  as  organized  through  the  mountain  schools,  are 
put  upon  the  market  of  our  cities  today. 

In  the  various  communities  that  grew  up  on  the  Atlantic 
coast,  in  the  New  England  colonies,  in  the  Pennsylvania 
region  as  well  as  in  the  southern  settlements,  there  were 
extremely  primitive  standards  of  living,  much  more  primi- 
tive, and  lasting  on  to  a much  later  period,  than  in  Great 
Britain  itself.  For  this  there  were  a number  of  reasons. 
The  country,  so  recently  settled,  lacked  many  improve- 
ments, and  the  home  many  conveniences  in  use  in  the  older 
countries  of  Europe.  Another  reason  why  pioneer  condi- 
tions of  living  and  of  housekeeping  still  persisted,  was  that 
the  industrial  revolution  had  not  yet  touched  them.  The 
age  of  machine  industry  had  for  America  not  yet  begun. 
These  changes  were  in  full  swing  in  England,  and  had 
already  profoundly  affected  the  life  of  the  people  and  the 
trade  and  commerce  of  the  country  before  the  period  of 
the  War  of  Independence.  During  the  disturbed  years  that 
followed  the  North  American  colonies  remained  almost 
entirely  agricultural;  the  population  still  very  small,  with 
next  to  no  roads,  the  best  methods  of  transport  being  by 
boat  on  the  rivers,  or  between  the  larger  coast  towns  by 
seagoing  vessels.  The  towns  themselves  (they  were  hardly 
cities)  were  at  that  time  only  six:  Boston,  Salem,  New 
York,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore  and  Charleston.  They  had 
no  streets  as  we  know  streets,  merely  roads  full  of  dust  in 
summer,  and  mud,  snow  and  ice  in  the  winter,  with  no 
water  supply  and  no  sewerage  system,  and  of  course  no 
methods  of  street  lighting. 

Therefore,  it  is  evident  that  living  in  a town,  the  woman 
of  that  day  had  to  perform  for  her  family  many  tasks  which 


THE  COLONIAL  WOMAN 


33 


today  she  is  saved  by  the  municipality  or  manufacturer. 
In  the  country  the  wife  and  daughters  of  the  farmers  had, 
even  in  a greater  degree  than  the  town-dwelling  woman, 
abundance  of  work  provided  for  them.  The  country  home, 
and  most  homes  were  country  homes,  was  quite  a self- 
contained  community  in  itself.  On  the  farm  were  raised  the 
sheep  whose  fleece  was  to  keep  the  family  warm  through 
the  long  cold  winters.  In  the  fields  grew  the  flax  out  of 
which  were  woven  the  linen  tablecloths  and  sheets  and 
clothing.  The  cattle  or  sheep  and  even  more  commonly  the 
pig,  bred  by  the  farmer  and  by  him  turned  into  meat,  was 
handed  over  to  his  wife  and  daughters  to  prepare  for  the 
table  and  to  salt  down  for  future  use.  The  women  of  the 
family  utilized  the  spare  fat  to  make  soap  and  candles. 
The  wool  of  the  sheep  they  had  to  cleanse  and  comb  in 
preparation  for  spinning.  The  spinning  wheel  was  always 
ready  at  hand  for  the  industrious  spinner.  Weaving  of  the 
lighter  materials  was  a somewhat  more  complicated  proc- 
ess, but  equally  part  of  the  woman’s  work.  In  order  to 
satisfy  her  eye  for  color  the  early  colonial  woman  had 
learned  to  make  use  of  vegetable  dyes  made  from  plants 
gathered  in  the  woods. 

Even  silk,  it  is  related,  was  manufactured  on  American 
soil  in  the  time  of  the  very  earliest  settlers  from  cocoons 
sent  over  by  King  James  the  First. 

From  this  it  is  easy  to  see  that  little  ready  money  was 
needed  in  those  days.  The  women  of  the  household  pro- 
duced much  of  what  was  needed  to  satisfy  family  require- 
ments, and  in  those  simple  days  but  little  was  purchased 
from  the  outside. 

These  family  needs  met,  the  women  turned  to  earning 
extra  money  by  either  selling  the  product  of  their  spinning 
looms  to  a village  store,  or  else  weaving  cloth  or  it  may  be 
knitting  stockings  to  order  for  individual  customers. 


34  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


This  was  domestic  production  upon  a perfectly  sound 
economic  basis.  It  is  not  to  be  confused  with  the  wasteful 
and  injurious  methods  of  home  work  among  ourselves  today. 
The  early  colonial  woman  undoubtedly  worked  hard;  she 
had  to  submit  to  many  privations,  but  the  privations  were 
mostly  of  the  unavoidable  sort  which,  so  long  as  they  are 
seen  to  be  unavoidable,  courageous  humanity  bears  un- 
murmuringly.  In  addition  the  domestic  producer  of  those 
days  was  very  much  her  own  mistress.  She  could  plan  her 
work  as  best  suited  her.  Her  daughters  were  her  helpers  in 
contributing  to  the  family  income,  while  the  maids  of  the 
household,  very  likely  the  daughters  of  the  neighboring 
farmers,  were  much  on  a position  of  equality  with  the  girls 
of  the  household.  In  performing  their  share  of  the  house- 
hold industry  they  were  serving  an  apprenticeship  to  what 
was  going  to  be  a valuable  trade  for  them  when  they  left 
for  homes  of  their  own.  The  habitual  reckoning  of  the 
income  as  family  income  accurately  describes  women’s 
relation  to  money.  In  those  days  the  father  was  in  every 
sense  the  head  of  the  house,  and  it  was  he  who  had  control 
of  the  common  purse.  On  the  other  hand,  the  arrangement 
was,  for  those  days,  not  an  unfair  one.  Woman’s  contribu- 
tion to  the  household  consisted  of  her  share  of  all  the  activi- 
ties that  made  for  support  and  comfort,  and  she  had  in 
return  shelter,  food  and  clothing,  and  there  was  very  little 
else  for  anyone  then.  The  men  of  the  home  did  the  rougher, 
more  exposed,  and  in  most  cases  more  dangerous  work  out 
of  doors.  They  felled  the  forests,  built  the  roads  and  made 
the  journeys  on  family  business,  planted  the  fields  and 
cared  for  the  cattle. 

As  life  became  easier,  we  can  observe  the  first  beginnings 
of  the  factory  system.  This  was  merely  the  opening  of  large 
rooms  where  a business  man  would  install  a large  number 
of  hand  looms.  Sometimes  the  yarn  would  be  delivered 


THE  COLONIAL  WOMAN 


35 


there  by  the  home  spinner.  About  this  time  we  hear  much 
of  spinning  schools,  encouraged  for  the  piirpose  of  teaching 
women  to  spin.  Unfortunately  there  was  an  equal  eager- 
ness to  turn  children,  both  girls  and  boys,  into  spinners  and 
helpers,  for  great  was  the  anxiety  to  convert  the  children’s 
labor  into  profit,  and  this  usually  on  the  ground  that  their 
work  would  add  materially  to  the  wealth  of  the  country  and 
also  it  would  save  the  children  themselves  all  the  evil 
effects  of  a life  of  idleness.  Miss  Edith  Abbott  (“Women 
in  Industry”) , quoting  from  original  documents,  shows  that 
this  approval  of  child  labor  was  universal  and  that  early 
inventors  actually  worked  to  discover  possible  means  of 
using  the  labor  of  children.  Indeed  a little  later  on,  early 
in  the  next  century,  commendation  was  solicited  for  one 
machine  on  the  ground  that  it  could  be  turned  by  children 
from  five  to  ten  years  of  age. 

The  first  really  commercial  enterprises  that  women  pur- 
sued were  such  as  the  keeping  of  small  shops  and  of  inns. 
Of  these  Miss  Abbott  gives  an  interesting  account.  Some 
women  only  got  a license  to  keep  a tavern  on  condition  that 
they  had  a careful  man  to  manage  the  house.  However, 
widows  often  took  up  this  business.  The  prosecution  of  one 
woman  in  New  Haven  casts  a light,  anything  but  creditable, 
on  the  methods  of  her  business  management,  because  of  her 
systematic  overcharging,  giving  details  that  have  a famil- 
iar modern  ring  in  it  as  that  “she  sold  a piece  of  cloth  to 
the  two  Mecars  at  23s  4d  per  yard  in  wompom;  the  cloth 
cost  her  about  12s  per  yard  and  sold  when  wompom  was  in 
great  request.” 

The  raising  of  garden  seeds  was  something  very  natural 
for  women  to  engage  in  as  a business,  seeing  that  from  the 
earliest  times  in  the  Colonies  they  had  had  the  charge  of 
whatever  kitchen  garden  was  attached  to  their  own  home. 
Women  were  teachers  of  dames’  schools.  Of  coiirse  there 


36  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


were  nurses  and  midwives.  There  are  occasional  instances 
of  women  carrying  on  real  industrial  establishments.  In- 
stances cited  are  mills,  saw-mills  and  even  a slaughter 
house.  A few  women  were  bakers  and  quite  a number 
were  printers,  both  compositors  and  working  at  the  press. 


Chapter  III 


WOMEN  AND  MACHINE  INDUSTRY 

Meanwhile  the  development  of  the  factory  cystem  with 
its  introduction  of  power-driven  machinery  was  preparing 
the  way  for  a complete  change  in  the  industrial  system  of 
the  United  States.  A series  of  inventions  had  led  up  to  the 
creation  of  the  machine-driven  industry  that  was  so  soon  to 
be  transplanted  from  British  to  American  soil.  In  its  turn, 
but  not  yet.  The  country  in  which  this  gigantic  experiment 
was  first  tried  out,  Great  Britain,  gained  in  the  form  of  an 
enormously  increased  production,  of  a foreign  trade  never 
before  matched  in  the  world’s  history,  in  an  extension  of 
colonial  markets  equally  unprecedented.  For  all  these 
benefits  England  paid  a dear  price:  the  herding  of  the 
workers  into  cities,  the  carrying  on  of  their  labors  for  in- 
human hours  under  insanitary  conditions,  for  poor  pay,  and 
with  an  appalling  sacrifice  of  child  life  and  child  happi- 
ness, and  the  sapping  of  the  vitality  of  her  people.  Too 
many  of  these  errors  were  to  be  repeated  by  the  United 
States,  but  at  the  time  when  this  cotmtry  enthusiastically 
welcomed  the  introduction  of  machinery  into  industry,  the 
wheel  had  not  yet  come  full  circle  and  machines  were  set 
up  in  the  newly  established  textile  mills  without  a single 
misgiving. 

The  textile  industry  was  the  mother  industry  wherein 
machinery  was  first  adopted.  The  mechanical  improve- 
ments which  revolutionized  the  making  of  woven  goods 
were  the  steam  engine,  the  spinning  jenny,  the  power  loom 

37 


38  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


and  the  cotton  gin.  The  steam  engine,  when  applied  to  the 
driving  of  a loom,  multiplied  enormously  the  power  of  the 
human  hand  in  producing  cloth,  and  the  mechanism  was 
christened  a power  loom.  Two  other  inventions  made  it 
possible  to  keep  this  all-devouring  machine  supplied  with 
yam  for  conversion  into  the  finished  article.  One  of  these, 
though  the  later  to  be  put  upon  the  market,  was  the  cotton 
gin,  which  did  away  with  the  need  for  picking  out  by  hand 
the  seeds  from  the  raw  cotton.  The  spinning  jenny  was 
proportionately  efiicient  in  producing  yam  ready  for 
weaving. 

The  setting  up  of  these  various  machines  meant  the  sink- 
ing of  much  capital.  It  meant  that  they  had  to  be  housed 
in  specially  built  factories,  and  the  owners,  usually  a body 
of  stockholders,  had  to  have  capital  to  employ  a staff  of 
workers  to  operate  the  machines. 

Textile  machinery  had  been  invented  and  manufactured 
in  England,  and  there  were  easily  understandable  objec- 
tions to  the  operating  of  such  machines  elsewhere  and 
objections  to  the  emigration  of  the  skilled  employes  accus- 
tomed to  running  them.  It  was  not  till  after  the  close  of 
the  war  of  1812  that  these  difficulties  passed  away  and  in 
the  year  1814  the  first  power  loom  was  erected  on  American 
soil  at  Waltham,  Massachusetts.  The  name  of  the  first 
young  woman  weaver  who  took  her  place  in  command  of 
this  marvelous  new  invention  was  Deborah  Skinner.  It  is 
recorded  that  in  1817  there  were  three  power  looms  in  Fall 
River,  Massachusetts.  The  names  of  the  girl  weavers  were 
Sallie  Winters,  Hannah  Borden  and  Marj’-  Healy. 

Hannah  Borden,  we  are  told,  was  an  expert  hand  weaver 
when  quite  a little  girl.  Her  father  being  one  of  the  stock- 
holders in  the  Fall  River  mill,  found  an  opening  for  her. 
Her  position  was  typical  of  that  of  her  entire  generation. 
They  were  pioneers  in  a new  form  of  industry.  As  pioneers 


WOMEN  AND  MACHINE  INDUSTRY 


39 


they  sacrificed  nothing  of  their  established  social  position 
in  the  little  community ; they  were  in  touch  with  the  church 
life  and  the  culture,  the  reading  and  the  literary  interests. 
On  the  other  hand,  they  submitted  to  conditions  that  we 
have  learned  to  think  utterly  wrong  today.  They  worked 
from  sunrise  till  seven  or  half  past  seven  in  the  evening, 
even  weaving  by  candle  light  in  the  winter  nights.  Wages 
are  recorded  as  from  $2.75  to  $3.25  a week.  Although 
Hannah  Borden  herself  was  under  no  compulsion  to  speed 
up  her  work,  the  managers  being  only  too  pleased  with  the 
profits  she  and  her  fellows  were  making  for  them,  running 
one  loom  apiece,  these  first  workers  were  nevertheless  un- 
thinkingly accepting  a new  creed  in  industry  which  they 
themselves  were  soon  to  resent  and  for  which  generations 
after  them  were  to  suffer. 

The  factory  employes  of  that  day  were  all  American 
born,  so  there  could  be  no  jealousy  between  workers  of 
rival  races,  nor  could  one  group  of  workers  be  played  off 
against  another. 

Mills  increased  in  numbers,  mill  owners  prospered  and 
presently  the  number  of  girls  coming  in  from  the  country 
districts  to  work  all  of  the  year  or  part  of  the  year  became 
so  great  that  there  was  no  accommodation  for  them.  The 
mill  owners  then  proceeded  to  erect  boarding  houses,  with 
a fixed  rate  of  payment  per  lodger,  guaranteed  to  the 
boarding-house  keeper.  There  was  no  worship  of  fresh  air 
in  those  days  nor  were  there  any  public  health  officers,  or 
the  ventilation  of  the  mills  and  the  overcrowding  of  the 
boarding  houses  would  have  given  grounds  for  investiga- 
tion. One  description  that  has  come  down  to  us  speaks  of 
the  boarding  houses  as  being  absolutely  blocked  with  arti- 
cles of  furniture,  umbrellas,  boxes  and  clothing.  It  is  not 
therefore  surprising  that  under  these  circumstances  there 
was  a great  prevalence  of  consumption,  a disease  that  had 


40  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


ever  been  the  bane  of  New  England  from  quite  early  times. 
So  common  was  it  that  families  looked  upon  it  as  an  in- 
evitable curse.  We  know  now  that  under  all  the  circum- 
stances of  the  life  of  those  days,  the  dread  of  fresh  air 
indoors  was  such  as  to  give  the  sick  small  chance  for  re- 
covery and  the  well  every  chance  for  becoming  infected. 

The  making  of  shoes  was  another  industry  into  which 
woman  entered  early.  Her  labor  was  utilized  when  the 
towns  became  large  enough  to  maintain  regular  cobblers’ 
shops.  The  cobblers  divided  up  the  work,  sending  out  the 
uppers  to  be  stitched  and  the  shoes  to  be  bound  by  women. 
It  is  said  to  have  been  a well  paid  trade,  and  was  like 
modern  home  work  in  that  a great  many  married  women 
worked  at  it  as  a side  occupation  in  the  intervals  of  their 
house  work.  Shoe-making  as  an  industry  in  machine- 
equipped  factories  developed  much  later  and  was  later  still 
in  attracting  women  into  it. 

-'A  We  are  accustomed  to  think  of  tobacco  as  the  crop,  even 
if  its  manufacture  into  commercial  tobacco  is  not  always 
the  industryj  of  the  warm  southern  states.  But  if  people 
want  a luxury,  and  cannot  obtain  it  elsewhere,  they  manage 
to  procure  some  sort  of  substitute,  so  the  colonial  farmers 
and  their  wives  raised  a crude  tobacco  on  their  northern 
fields,  and  cigar  making  was  an  occupation  of  women  in  the 
early  years  of  this  century  until  better  tobacco  from  the 
south  and  better  cigar  makers  from  other  countries  pro- 
duced a more  delicate  and  highly  finished  article. 

The  earliest  information  that  we  have  about  women’s 
trade  imions  dates  back  to  the  year  1825,  although  men,  it 
is  said,  had  become  active  earlier.  The  first  American 
women  factory  workers  were  of  a blood  and  of  a race  that 
it  was  not  easy  to  suppress,  and  the  newspapers  of  that 
year  record  some  tailoresses  turning  out  for  higher  wages. 
As  the  years  went  on  more  tailoresses  struck.  In  1831, 


WOMEN  AND  MACHINE  INDUSTRY 


41 


1,600  women  struck  for  a wage  scale,  with  Miss  Louisa  M. 
Mitchell  as  Secretary  of  the  Tailoresses’  Society,  Mrs. 
Lavinia  Waight  being  President. 

The  seamstresses  and  tailoresses  of  Baltimore  formed  an 
organization  in  1833.  In  this  they  were  supported  by  the 
journeymen  tailors.  The  poor  wages  and  bad  conditions  of 
the  sewing  women  must  have  attracted  public  attention  for 
Mr.  Booth,  the  great  actor,  was  announced  as  giving  a per- 
formance for  the  benefit  of  the  Seamstresses’  Society. 

It  was  in  1828  that  Mathew  Carey,  an  independent  and 
public-spirited  citizen,  began  to  call  attention  to  the  low 
wages  paid  to  the  working  women  in  Philadelphia.  In  1835 
he  presided  over  a large  meeting  of  Philadelphia  Working 
Women,  at  the  request  of  a committee  of  18  women.  This 
committee  included  representatives  of  many  branches  of 
the  sewing  trade.  They  formed  an  association  called  “The 
Female  Improvement  Society”  which  was  actually  a city 
federation  of  working  women’s  organizations.  They  sub- 
mitted wage  scales  to  the  employers,  secured  newspaper 
publicity,  and  sent  a protest  to  the  Secretary  of  War 
against  the  low  prices  paid  for  army  orders.  It  was  stated 
that  most  of  the  employers  seem  to  have  granted  a slight 
advance  in  wages. 

It  was  in  the  cotton  mills  of  New  England,  however,  that 
occurred  most  of  the  larger  strikes  which  attracted  pub- 
licity to  the  industry,  and  did  something  towards  checking 
its  increasingly  burdensome  exac;tions.  In  the  year  1828 
there  was  a large  strike  of  cotton  mill  operatives  in  Dover, 
New  Hampshire,  the  news  of  which  the  papers  spread  from 
Maine  to  Georgia.  In  Paterson,  New  Jersey,  too,  there  was 
even  a strike,  beginning  among  the  children,  which  pres- 
ently extended  to  the  carpenters,  masons  and  machinists, 
who  united  in  demanding  a ten  hour  day. 

A yet  larger  strike  occurred  six  years  later,  in  Dover, 


42  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


New  Hampshire,  which  turned  on  the  question  of  a reduc- 
tion in  wages.  In  this  struggle  the  girls  held  meetings, 
passed  resolutions  and  made  use  of  the  press,  where  editors 
were  favorable,  to  spread  the  news  through  New  Hamp- 
shire and  as  far  as  Lowell  in  Massachusetts.  It  was  in- 
ferred that  the  Dover  girls  had  taken  example  by  those  of 
Lowell  in  going  out  on  strike  and  forming  a trade  union, 
for  the  same  unrest  prevailed  in  Lowell,  a much  larger  city. 
With  the  vivacity  and  spirit  for  which  the  Lowell  girls 
were  noted,  they  issued  a proclamation  and  attracted  public 
attention  to  the  announcement  of  their  wrongs.  This  time 
the  strikebreaker  was  on  their  track,  a large  number  of 
girls  from  the  surrounding  country  coming  in  to  Lowell 
with  a view  of  filling  the  strikers’  places. 

In  1836,  in  Lowell,  the  housekeepers  of  the  boarding 
houses  arranged  with  the  mill-owners  to  raise  their  price 
($1.25  per  week)  by  24  cents;  one-half  to  be  paid  by  the 
girl,  the  other  deducted  from  her  pay  and  handed  over  to 
the  housekeeper.  There  was  then  something  like  a trade 
union,  so  the  girls  struck,  and  went  out  to  the  number  of 
twenty-five  hundred.  The  strike  ended  in  defeat,  but  it 
attracted  the  attention  of  the  men  at  the  annual  convention 
of  the  National  Trade  Union,  when  in  the  report  on  female 
labor,  women  were  recommended  to  “immediatelj’^  adopt 
energetic  measures,  in  the  construction  of  societies,  to  sup- 
port each  other.” 

There  was  so  little  continuity  in  the  labor  movement  of 
that  day  that,  although  under  the  pressme  of  poverty  and 
overwork,  strike  after  strike  took  place,  one  organization 
and  another  came  to  life,  only  to  exist  a little  while,  thus 
leaving  the  workers  no  better  off. 

Exactly  similar  stories  are  told  of  Philadelphia  and  Nor- 
ristown, Pennsylvania,  of  Amesbury  and  Springfield,  Mas- 
sachusetts, of  Baltimore  and  New  York.  There  were  other 


WOMEN  AND  MACHINE  INDUSTRY 


43 


trades  involved  besides  cotton  weaving,  umbrella  sewing, 
tailoring,  book  binding  and  shoe  binding. 

The  shoe  binders  had  in  Lynn  a well-organized  imion 
called  “The  Female  Society  of  Lynn  and  Vicinity  for  the 
Protection  and  Promotion  of  Female  Industry.”  For  a 
while  this  society  was  extremely  successful  and  was  so  in- 
fluential that  it  appointed  two  delegates  (men)  to  repre- 
sent them  at  the  Boston  Central  Labor  Body.  Unfortu- 
nately six  months  saw  this  promising  union  in  difficulties. 
Since  there  is  nothing  heard  of  it  after  that,  it  probably 
went  out  of  existence  very  soon. 

Outside  of  working  women  we  know  of  one  woman  who 
exercised  remarkable  influence  wherever  she  moved.  This 
was  Frances  Wright.  Born  in  Scotland  in  1795  she  soon 
became  an  orphan  and  at  the  same  time  heir  to  a great  deal 
of  property.  She  early  became  imbued  with  the  ideas  of 
French  writers  of  the  liberal  school,  and  came  to  this  coun- 
try in  1818,  feeling  that  she  was  leaving  an  effete  old  world 
for  a new  land  full  of  promise.  Returning  to  her  home  she 
again  sailed  for  America  in  1825,  purchased  a large  tract  of 
land  in  Tennessee  within  a few  miles  of  where  Memphis 
now  stands,  and  established  there  a colony  of  freed  slaves. 
Her  work  there  came  to  an  end  because  she  found  herself 
checkmated  by  the  laws  of  the  state  regarding  Negroes. 
The  colonists  were  sent  safely  to  Haiti. 

Later  we  find  her  associated  with  Robert  Dale  Owen. 
She  became  a writer  and  a public  lectmer,  traveling 
throughout  the  western  states  attacking  slavery  and  other 
established  social  institutions  and  advocating  the  freeing  of 
women  from  political  and  economic  handicaps.  Her  keen 
intellect  saw  even  so  early  that  the  hope  of  the  working 
classes  lay  in  organized  labor.  She  is  quoted  in  Commons’ 
“Documentary  History  of  American  Industrial  Society” — 
“It  has  long  been  clear  to  me  that  in  every  country  the  best 


44  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


feeling  and  the  best  sense  are  found  with  the  laboring  and 
useful  classes,  and  the  worst  sense  with  the  idle  and  use- 
less; until  all  classes  shall  be  amalgamated  into  one,  how- 
ever, by  gradual  but  fundamental  changes  in  the  whole 
organization  of  society,  much  bad  feeling  must  prevail 
everywhere.” 

Again,  of  the  Working  Men’s  Party  in  1833  she  wrote 
“It  is  labor  rising  up  against  idleness,  industry  against 
money  and  against  privilege.” 

It  is  usual  to  consider  the  period  from  1840  to  1860  as 
having  a character  of  its  own  in  the  growth  of  the  American 
labor  movement.  The  thought  of  some  ran  along  the  lines 
of  land  reform  and  co-operation,  expressing  a certain  social 
idealism.  Another  movement  centered  around  the  efforts 
made  to  better  the  position  of  working  people  through  or- 
ganizations officered  and  managed  by  themselves,  with  the 
sympathetic  support  of  a group  of  advanced  writers  and 
thinkers.  There  were  some  very  remarkable  working  women 
who  took  part  in  the  meetings  of  the  New  England  Work- 
ing Men’s  Association,  later  known  as  the  New  England 
Labor  Reform  League,  between  1845  and  1847,  also  in  the 
National  Industrial  Congress  which  met  annually  until 
1855.  Dr.  Andrews  relates  how  a woman  speaker,  a work- 
ing woman,  asked  direct  support  for  the  factory  girls,  as 
the  men  had  the  ballot  box  to  help  them.  She  said  she 
“wished  the  members  of  the  legislature  might  be  mill  opera- 
tives a few  weeks,  occupy  their  rooms,  and  eat  at  their 
tables.  Then  they  would  know  why  a thousand  of  us  asked 
them  to  protect  us.” 

But  if  unionism,  strictly  so  called,  was  in  the  background 
and  temporarily  somewhat  inactive,  there  were  strikes 
a-plenty.  In  1851,  a successful  shirt  sewers’  co-operative 
union  grew  out  of  an  attempt  to  relieve  the  necessities  of 
6,000  shirt  sewers  in  the  city  of  New  York.  Thomas  Hood’s 


WOMEN  AND  MACHINE  INDUSTRY 


45 


"Song  of  the  Shirt”  was  quoted  to  the  public  as  applying 
to  New  York  as  well  as  to  London,  for  thousands  of  these 
women  were 


“Sewing  at  once  with  a double  stitch, 

A shroud  as  well  as  a shirt.” 

The  Female  Labor  Reform  Associations,  with  their  neu- 
tral title,  were  none  the  less  trade  unions,  although  they 
gave  less  of  their  attention  to  forming  unions  than  to  legis- 
lation. Women  were  very  helpless  and  had  from  time  to 
time  to  face  fresh  difficulties,  such  as  the  arrival  in  their 
cities  of  immigrants  who,  in  order  to  get  a footing,  were 
willing  to  take  any  wages.  The  leaders  therefore  felt  that 
organization  was  far  too  slow  a method  to  reach  the  evils 
of  constantly  lessening  wages  and  the  unceasing  pressure  of 
work  to  which  the  rank  and  file  had  to  submit.  As  de- 
scribed elsewhere,  their  program  was  to  gain  a ten  hour 
day  for  both  men  and  women  and  to  gain  it  in  several  states 
at  once.  They  hoped  thus  to  do  away  with  the  supposedly 
convincing  argument  used  by  the  Pittsburgh  and  Allegheny 
employers  that  they  could  not  afford  to  reduce  hours  or 
increase  wages  in  the  face  of  the  competition  of  the  New 
England  mills.  In  this,  these  brave  women  failed. 

Miss  Sarah  G.  Bagley  was  President  of  the  Lowell  Female 
Labor  Reform  Association.  In  1845  she  was  sent  as  a dele- 
gate to  a Convention  of  the  New  England  Working  Men’s 
Association.  She  testified  before  the  Massachusetts  Legis- 
lative Committee  as  to  the  conditions  in  textile  mills. 
Later  she  and  her  followers  were  instrumental  in  helping 
to  defeat  William  Schouler,  who  had  been  Chairman  of  the 
Special  Committee  of  the  Legislature,  because  he  had 
treated  with  contempt  the  presentation  of  their  case. 

From  the  Lowell  Labor  Reform  Association,  four  women 


46  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


delegates,  Mary  Emerson,  Sarah  G.  Bagley,  Mary  H.  Carle- 
ton  and  Huldah  J.  Stone,  were  seated  at  the  first  Industrial 
Congress  at  Boston.  Out  of  the  ten  delegates  sent  by  the 
New  England  Labor  Reform  League  to  the  National  Re- 
form Convention  at  Worcester,  three  were  women.  Miss 
Emerson,  Miss  Stone  and  Miss  Bagley.  All  this  is  clear 
proof  of  how  very  active  the  women  were  at  this  period. 
At  these  Conventions  there  were  complaints  made  of  the 
employment  of  the  black  list,  which  deprived  women  of  the 
chance  of  obtaining  work  in  other  houses  or  in  other  towns. 

National  Industrial  Congresses  continued  to  meet  from 
1846  to  1855.  At  the  second  congress  in  1847,  Mrs.  Fannie 
Lee  Townsend,  of  Providence,  R.  I.,  was  seated  as  an 
honorary  member.  She  spoke  and  entered  into  the  dis- 
cussions on  the  position  of  women. 

The  Labor  Reform  Associations  were  in  many  ways  far 
in  advance  of  any  previous  efforts  made  by  women.  Their 
leaders  had  a definite  policy  to  which  they  adhered;  they 
were  women  of  ability,  well  fitted  to  meet  either  labor  men, 
employers  or  legislators,  in  discussion.  They  understood 
economics  and  saw  the  need  for  co-operation  of  the  workers 
so  clearly  that  their  interstate  campaigns  remain  a model 
for  us  today,  conducted  as  they  were  under  all  the  difficul- 
ties of  distance  and  imperfect  means  of  communication  and 
transportation. 

But  forces  were  at  work  that  no  heroism  or  ability  or 
intelligence  could  counteract.  The  question  of  slavery  was 
soon  the  foremost  question  of  all  others.  If  public  interest 
was  entirely  absorbed  by  the  war  as  long  as  it  lasted,  and 
if  during  that  time  labor  received  but  scant  attention,  even 
worse  days  were  ahead  with  the  coming  of  peace  and  the 
consequent  long  depression,  reaching  its  climax  in  the  panic 
of  1873.  But  labor  was  not  idle.  There  were  eight  hour 
leagues,  of  which  the  Boston  League,  formed  in  1869,  was 


WOMEN  AND  MACHINE  INDUSTRY 


47 


the  first  to  admit  women.  There  were  also  more  than  30 
national  trade  unions,  two  of  these  only,  printers  and  cigar 
makers,  admitting  women. 

Women  shoe  makers  were  very  active.  There  was  a strike 
of  several  hundred  shoe  stitchers  at  Lynn,  Massachusetts, 
in  the  winter  of  1860.  They  even  marched  in  parade,  5000 
men  and  1000  women,  with  music  and  banners,  and  held  a 
mass  meeting  afterwards.  The  strike  resulted  in  getting 
some  of  the  demands  and  in  the  formation  of  a shoe  makers’ 
union.  The  women  shoe  makers  had  their  own  National 
Trade  Union,  the  Daughters  of  St.  Crispin.  It  is  the  only 
women’s  national  organization  of  which  we  have  record. 

At  its  first  convention  in  1869,  at  Lynn,  Massachusetts, 
there  were  delegates  from  many  of  the  principal  shoe  centers 
in  Massachusetts,  from  Auburn,  Maine,  Rochester,  New 
York,  Philadelphia,  Chicago,  and  even  San  Francisco.  The 
men  had  a union  called  the  Knights  of  St.  Crispin,  and  the 
Daughters  were  to  do  for  the  women  what  the  Knights’ 
organization  was  endeavoring  to  accomplish  for  the  men. 
The  order  really  came  into  existence  through  the  support  of 
the  organized  men,  who  loyally  supported  their  sisters, 
going  out  on  strike  on  behalf  of  Daughters  who  had  been 
discharged  for  belonging  to  a trade  union.  This  was  another 
of  the  organizations  which  succumbed  in  the  hard  times  of 
1873.  The  training  that  some  of  the  more  active  had  re- 
ceived while  in  St.  Crispin’s  fold,  they  carried  over  with 
them  when  later  on  they  had  the  opportunity  to  join  the 
Knights  of  Labor. 

Massachusetts  and  New  York  had  state  unions  of  work- 
ing women  including  women  of  different  grades.  The  pur- 
pose of  the  Massachusetts  State  Union  was  “to  procure 
diminution  of  the  hours  of  labor  in  the  factories,  to  amelio- 
rate the  condition  of  the  working  women  generally,  and  to 
take  steps  to  form  protective  organization  of  all  trades,” 


48  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 

also  to  encourage  women  to  serve  regular  apprenticeships. 

References  to  suffrage  occur  in  the  labor  papers  and  from 
the  reports  of  conventions  and  meetings.  The  subject  evi- 
dently frequently  came  up  for  discussion,  but  even  among 
the  working  women,  only  a few  had  yet  been  converted  to 
see  the  need  for  the  vote. 

Under  other  names  and  over  the  larger  territory  extend- 
ing to  the  cities  of  the  middle  west,  the  industrial  struggle 
continued.  The  textile  mills  were  now  full  of  immigrant 
workers.  They  were  even  less  fitted  than  the  Lowell  girls 
had  been  to  face  the  increasing  hardships  of  their  position. 
It  is  encouraging  to  note  one  most  successful  strike  of 
weavers,  men  and  women,  but  led  by  the  women,  who  de- 
cided to  limit  their  attack  to  three  mills  only,  and  go  on 
working  in  the  others,  meanwhile  soliciting  contributions 
toward  the  strike  fund  throughout  the  eastern  states.  They 
gave  the  managers  every  opportunity  to  lock  them  out,  so 
that  upon  the  manufacturers  might  fall  the  onus  of  breaking 
their  contracts  to  their  customers.  Three  thousand  two 
hundred  and  fifteen  strikers  were  on  the  unions’  payroll. 
After  lasting  about  two  months,  the  strike  was  successful. 

The  Working  Women’s  Protective  Union,  begun  in  1866, 
was  still  in  operation  twenty-seven  years  afterwards,  for 
it  was  reported  upon  for  the  World’s  Fair  in  1893.  Its 
special  work  was  the  collection  of  wages  which  women 
could  not  collect  for  themselves.  Its  managers,  however, 
found  themselves  quite  unable  to  help  the  girls  in  a matter 
that  was  just  as  much  a wage  question,  although  not  gen- 
erally considered  so.  That  was  to  check  the  fining  system, 
or  to  secure  any  refund  of  fines.  The  xmion  was  also  an 
agency  for  obtaining  employment  for  women.  There  were 
similar  associations  in  Boston,  Philadelphia,  Chicago,  St. 
Louis,  Indianapolis  and  elsewhere. 

The  Working  Women’s  Association  of  New  York  was 


WOMEN  AND  MACHINE  INDUSTRY 


49 


another  organization  organized  by  non-working  women, 
leaders  in  the  woman  suffrage  movement.  The  majority 
of  working  women  were  not  at  that  time  interested  in  the 
vote,  and  the  suffragists’  appeal  for  co-operative  action 
to  obtain  the  vote  as  an  instrument  to  improve  industrial 
conditions  fell  flat. 

The  International  Workingmen’s  Association,  from  1866 
to  1873,  is  considered  by  Dr.  John  B.  Andrews  as  having 
been  a radical  influence  in  American  labor  unionism. 
“Women,”  he  added,  “were  admitted  as  members,  the  word 
‘workingmen’  being  understood  in  its  broad  meaning  to 
include  both  sexes,  but  the  organization  aside  from  its  edu- 
cational influence  may  be  disregarded  as  a factor  in  the 
development  of  women’s  trade  unions.”  According  to  the 
“Documentary  History  of  American  Industrial  Society” 
the  one  woman  whose  name  is  closely  associated  with  its 
activities  in  this  country  was  Victoria  Woodhull,  although 
her  connection  had  an  uneasy  close.  In  the  American 
branch,  with  which  the  trade  unions  of  the  United  States 
had  been  asked  to  aflaliate,  charges  were  brought  against 
Section  12,  which  Mrs.  Woodhull  dominated,  that  it  was 
introducing  issues  foreign  to  the  labor  question,  such  as 
woman  suffrage,  free  love,  a universal  language,  and  so  on. 
Both  factions  appealed  to  the  Convention  of  the  Inter- 
national, when  it  met  at  the  Hague,  and  the  Convention 
ruled  against  Section  12.  A resolution  was  adopted  that  no 
section  hereafter  be  admitted  which  did  not  consist  of  at 
least  three-fourths  of  wage  laborers. 

For  a short  time,  also,  Mrs.  Woodhull  was  very  promi- 
nent as  a free  lance,  in  the  woman  suffrage  movement.  She 
must  have  been  a woman  of  brilliant  ability,  but  also  an 
individualist  who  forged  ahead  by  herself,  and  was  a little 
impatient,  doubtless,  of  the  dull  routine  of  gathering  to- 


50  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


gether  and  winning  over  to  her  plans  any  considerable 
group  of  followers. 

The  Knights  of  Labor,  an  organization  planned  on  a 
national  scale,  and  coming  to  the  front  during  the  latter 
third  of  the  nineteenth  century,  was  for  a time  probably  the 
chief  labor  influence  in  the  United  States.  Certainly  during 
the  few  brief  years  of  its  greatest  activity  it  did  much  to 
forward  the  cause  of  the  working  woman.  It  was  a large 
body,  and  very  informally  organized;  at  first  a secret  order, 
altruistic  in  its  aims  and  middle  class  in  its  membership. 
At  its  first  convention  in  1878  it  was  reorganized,  and  from 
then  on  began  to  draw  in  the  workers  in  the  trades,  as 
well  as  housekeeping  women  and  farmers.  Although  a 
number  of  its  locals,  especially  among  the  shoe  workers, 
were  composed  solely  of  those  of  one  trade  and  usually  also 
of  one  sex,  that  was  not  the  general  rule.  The  locals  were, 
broadly  speaking,  on  the  federal  labor  imion  pattern,  but 
even  more  flexible,  including  all  who  would  support  the 
main  principle,  “That  is  the  most  perfect  government  in 
which  an  injury  to  one  is  the  concern  of  all.”  Those  who 
followed  occupations  which  were  considered  as  in  opposi- 
tion to  such  a creed  were  excluded;  these  were  lawyers, 
bankers,  stock  brokers,  dealers  in  intoxicating  liquors  and 
professional  gamblers.  Their  leaders  perceived  clearly  that 
the  uncertain  position  of  women  in  the  labor  movement  was 
one  that  was  fraught  with  much  suffering  to  themselves 
and  great  danger  to  the  men  wage  earners,  and  therefore 
the  first  regular  constitution  of  the  reorganized  Knights 
of  Labor  included  as  one  of  the  objects  “to  secure  equal  pay 
for  equal  work.” 

This  subject  was  often  afterwards  referred  to,  and  in 
1881,  women  were  admitted  to  regular  membership.  For 
almost  the  first  time  it  now  becomes  possible  to  follow 
closely  what  happened  in  the  history  of  an  organization. 


WOMEN  AND  MACHINE  INDUSTRY 


51 


as  the  records  of  conventions  of  the  Knights  of  Labor  are 
printed,  and  obtainable  in  many  libraries. 

There  were  reports  on  women’s  work  and  addresses  to 
the  membership.  The  convention  of  1886  appointed 
Leonora  M.  Barry  as  general  investigator,  and  for  four 
years  she  conducted  almost  single  handed,  except  for  the 
help  of  her  secretary,  Mary  O’Reilly,  a most  remarkable 
campaign  on  behalf  of  the  woman  wage  earner.  Unoffi- 
cially she  inspected  factories  until  she  found  that  helpless 
girls  whom  she  had  interviewed  even  privately,  were  often 
in  consequence  discharged.  Thus  she  helped  to  pave  the 
way  for  the  state  labor  departments  of  today.  A brilliant 
and  effective  speaker,  she  roused  the  women  of  the  leisure 
classes  in  the  women’s  clubs  and  suffrage  associations. 
She  organized  many  locals  and  is  heard  of  as  far  east  as 
the  Atlantic  coast  and  as  far  west  as  Colorado. 

After  four  years  of  this  work,  Mrs.  Barry  married  and 
retired.  There  was  no  one  to  take  her  place,  yet  this 
period  of  intense  effort  had  left  its  mark  and  its  results  are 
not  to  be  undervalued.  In  any  case  the  Knights  of  Labor 
had  done  their  work,  had  made  their  contribution  and  were 
now  to  give  place  to  the  rising  American  Federation  of 
Labor,  with  a platform  less  vague  and  all  embracing,  with  a 
much  more  definite  policy  regarding  trade  organization  and 
better  fitted  to  the  needs  of  the  time. 

The  American  Federation  of  Labor  was  from  the  first 
and  is  still  a federation  of  national  trade  unions.  These 
national  trade  unions  decide  on  their  own  form  of  organiza- 
tion and  conditions  of  membership  and  are  represented  at 
conventions  by  delegates  in  proportion  to  their  membership. 
At  conventions  also  are  seated  representatives  from  State 
Federations  of  Labor  and  city  central  labor  bodies.  The 
membership  of  the  earliest  unions  affiliated  was  overwhelm- 
ingly composed  of  men.  The  first  woman  who  was  heard  in 


52  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


the  Federation  was  Mrs.  Charlotte  Smith.  Of  her  we  know 
that  she  was  in  1882  the  President,  as  she  had  almost  cer- 
tainly been  the  founder,  of  a young  organization,  termed 
the  Woman’s  National  Industrial  League,  with  head- 
quarters in  Washington,  Harriet  L.  Dolsen  being  the  Secre- 
tary. It  again  was  one  of  these  hopeful  undertakings,  begun 
on  a consistent  and  intelligible  theory ; assuming  that  labor 
conditions  for  women  workers  were  most  degrading, 
that  the  woman  worker  was  the  most  exploited  figure 
in  the  field  of  modem  industry,  and  that  through  co-opera- 
tive and  united  effort  of  the  women  themselves,  of  organized 
labor  men,  and  of  socially  minded  women  outside  the  wage- 
earning classes,  these  evils  were  to  be  met  and  overcome. 
Except  that  the  international  note  had  not  been  sounded, 
because  the  pressing  need  for  it  had  not  as  yet  arisen,  the 
program  reads  as  if  it  had  been  written  yesterday.  It  ad- 
vocated education  for  trades  and  professions;  freedom  to 
enter  any  occupation,  equal  wages  for  equal  work,  equality 
in  the  public  service  (Charlotte  Smith  lived  in  Washington) , 
co-operation  with  all  labor  associations  in  standardizing 
hours  of  labor.  The  organization  planned  to  establish 
branches  in  all  industrial  centers. 

Mrs.  Smith  represented  the  League  at  the  Convention 
of  the  Federation  of  Organized  Trades  and  Labor  Unions 
(the  original  title  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor), 
handing  in  a memorial  asking  for  advice,  assistance  and 
co-operation.  She  spoke  on  behalf  of  the  2,647,157  women 
wage-earners  recorded  in  the  census  of  1880.  Three  years 
later  Mrs.  Smith  came  back.  This  time  she  was  seated, 
although  without  a vote.  She  was  able  to  secure  the 
passage  of  a resolution  urging  the  need  of  the  trade  union 
organization  of  women. 

Here  and  there  was  found  a man  who  recognized  both 
that  the  weakness  of  the  woman  worker  was  a handicap 


WOMEN  AND  MACHINE  INDUSTRY 


63 


to  every  member  of  organized  labor  and  also  that  organized 
labor  owed  it  to  the  women  themselves  to  put  time,  effort 
and  money  into  the  task  of  bringing  them  into  the  labor 
movement.  One  of  these  was  the  late  T.  G.  Morgan 
(Tommy  Morgan  as  he  was  affectionately  called  to  the 
last).  English  by  birth,  and  having  endured  a hard  boy- 
hood, he  was  always  pleading  the  cause  of  the  under  dog. 
Dming  the  latter  half  of  his  life,  when  he  was  no  longer 
working  at  his  trade,  he  was  chiefly  known  for  his  activities 
in  connection  with  the  Socialist  movement.  In  1890,  as 
one  of  the  Chicago  delegates  to  the  Convention  of  the 
American  Federation  of  Labor,  Mr.  Morgan  introduced 
and  the  convention  passed  a resolution,  asking  for  the 
submission  to  Congress  of  an  amendment  to  the  Constitu- 
tion asking  that  the  vote  be  given  to  women.  This  reform, 
always  advocated  by  Miss  Susan  B.  Anthony,  and  under 
which  women  vote  today,  at  length  became  law  in  1920. 

This  same  convention  of  1890  was  notable  for  the  seat- 
ing of  the  first  fully  accredited  woman  delegate.  She 
was  Mrs.  Mary  Burke,  a retail  clerk,  from  Findlay,  Ohio. 
She  secured  the  passing  of  a resolution  recommending  the 
placing  in  the  field  of  a number  of  women  organizers,  to 
aid  in  unionizing  women  workers. 

One  reason  why  the  woman  delegate  was  at  the  early 
conventions  of  the  American  Federation  so  rare  a figure  is 
because  some  of  the  trades  including  the  largest  number 
of  women  employes,  were  then  not  organized  nationally. 
Of  those  organizations  with  women  members,  the  two  oldest 
are  the  International  Typographical  Union  (1850),  and  the 
Cigar  Makers’  International  Union,  founded  in  1864.  All 
the  rest  have  come  into  existence  since  the  year  1888;  the 
International  Ladies’  Garment  Workers  in  1900,  and  the 
United  Textile  Workers  a year  later. 

In  1891,  upon  the  recommendation  of  a committee,  with 


64  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


Mrs.  Eva  McDonald  Valesh  as  Chairman,  and  Miss  Ida 
Van  Etten  as  Secretary,  it  was  decided  to  create  the  oflBce 
of  national  organizer,  the  position  to  be  filled  at  the  begin- 
ning of  1892.  This  was  done,  and  Miss  Mary  E.  Kenney 
(now  Mrs.  Mary  Kenney  O’Sullivan)  received  the  appoint- 
ment. Mr.  Gompers  sent  Miss  Kenney  to  Boston,  where 
she  remained  organizing  for  the  Federation  for  several  years, 
the  relationship  ending  only  with  her  marriage. 

The  Valesh  report  had  also  contained  the  request  that  the 
constitution  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  be  so 
amended  that  the  woman  organizer  have  a seat  on  the 
Executive  Board.  This,  however,  was  not  concurred  in. 

At  the  convention  of  1894,  Mrs.  T.  J.  Morgan  ran  for 
the  ofiice  of  first  Vice-President,  the  other  candidate  being 
Mr.  P.  J.  McGuire.  The  result  showed  1,865  votes  for 
Mr.  McGuire  and  226  for  Mrs.  Morgan,  a vote  for  those 
days  large  enough  to  reflect  credit  equally  upon  the  woman 
for  whom  it  was  cast  and  on  the  men  who  cast  it. 

Most  of  the  labor  education  of  women  during  the  closing 
years  of  the  century  was  gained  through  the  national 
unions  to  which  they  now  were  naturally  attached.  They 
were  included  in  such  different  organizations  as  the  Boot 
and  Shoe  Workers,  Hotel  and  Restaurant  employes  and  in 
the  United  Garment  Workers  of  America,  who  make  men’s 
outer  clothing.  The  United  Garment  Workers  have  alwaj^s 
made  much  of  the  union  label  upon  their  products,  there- 
fore the  men  had  a distinct  motive  to  encourage  them  in 
taking  women  in.  Much  more  diflBcult  was  the  unioniz- 
ing of  the  makers  of  women’s  clothes.  It  was  impossible  to 
stimulate  demand  for  a label  among  garments  as  different 
as  a woman’s  waist,  a baby’s  frock  or  a ready  made  dress, 
with  such  vast  differences  in  quality,  prices  and  design,  and 
sold  to  customers  few  of  whom  had  the  faintest  idea  of  what 
a xmion  label  meant  or  why  they  should  look  for  it.  At 


WOMEN  AND  MACHINE  INDUSTRY 


55 


that  time  also  the  membership  of  both  of  these  rmions  was 
all  the  time  changing  its  character,  for  the  workers  from 
whom  they  were  yearly  recruited  were  almost  entirely 
foreign,  non-English  speaking  immigrants,  whom  it  was 
difficult  to  reach  with  any  message  of  organization. 

The  Boot  and  Shoe  Workers’  Union  was  one  of  the  most 
active  and  best  organized  of  all  the  imions  with  women 
members.  The  first  few  years  of  its  existence  were  marked 
by  many  strikes  in  which  women  played  their  full  part. 
But  with  the  adoption  of  a union  label  in  1895  and  a new 
constitution  in  1899,  the  union  endorsed  the  policy  to  which 
it  for  the  most  part  adheres  today,  of  making  benefits  im- 
portant, with  arbitration  clauses  and  the  use  of  the  union 
label  as  essential  conditions  in  the  agreement  with  em- 
ployers. 

These  examples  show  that  women  were  at  this  period  be- 
ginning to  take  a place,  however  humble,  in  the  regular 
ranks  of  labor; — humble  because  they  had  but  little  recog- 
nition officially  and  almost  no  power  in  directing  the  policy 
or  administering  the  affairs  of  the  national  union.  What- 
ever experience  they  gained  was  in  their  small  locals,  and 
problems  were  ahead  for  which  that  experience  offered  but 
inadequate  training. 

The  Working  Women’s  Society  of  New  York  aimed  prin- 
cipally at  the  organization  of  women  into  trade  unions, 
and  also  to  bring  about  legislation  for  their  benefit,  as  well 
as  the  efficiency  of  laws  already  in  existence.  It  originated 
in  a working  women’s  group.  Leonora  O’Reilly,  a garment 
worker,  whose  mother  had  been  a labor  woman  before 
her,  and  who  had  herself  from  early  days  been  a member  of 
the  Knights  of  Labor,  in  1886  began  holding  meetings  with 
other  workers.  Some  public-spirited  women  in  New  York, 
with  Mrs.  Josephine  Shaw  Lowell  at  their  head,  hearing  of 
this  effort,  asked  if  they  might  help,  and  with  their  co- 


56  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


operation  the  Working  Women’s  Societj’-  was  formed  in 
1886.  The  society  gave  backing  and  help  of  all  sorts  to 
the  feather  workers  in  their  strike.  It  was  active  also  in 
pushing  legislation  for  the  appointment  of  women  factory 
inspectors.  In  1890  success  was  attained  in  this  respect. 
An  indirect  result  of  this  was  legislation  in  Great  Britafn 
on  the  sam.e  lines. 

The  society  also  undertook  the  education  of  the  public. 
Out  of  its  campaigns  grew  the  Consumers’  League  of  New 
York,  which  proved  to  be  the  beginning  of  the  National 
Consumers’  League,  which  is  still  educating  the  public,  the 
public  of  a new  generation,  and  steadily  pressing  forward 
for  improved  standards,  through  legislation. 


Chapteb  IV 


WOMEN  IN  SOME  MODERN  TRADE  UNIONS 


In  the  returns  of  the  national  census  taken  in  1920,  women 
are  recorded  as  being  employed  in  the  various  occupations 
and  occupational  groups. 


Per  cent 

Number 

Distribution 

All  occupations 

8,549,399 

100.0 

Agriculture,  forestry  and  animal  husbandry 

1,084,074 

12.7 

Extraction  of  minerals 

3,497 

(*) 

Manufacturing  and  mechanical  industries . 

1,931,064 

22.6 

Transportation 

214,262 

2.5 

Trade 

669,919 

7.8 

Pubhc  service  (not  elsewhere  classified) . . . 

22,404 

0.3 

Professional  service 

1,016,307 

11.9 

Domestic  and  personal  service 

2,184,214 

25.6 

Clerical  occupations 

1,423,658 

16.7 

* Less  than  one-tenth  of  one  per  cent. 

So  much  we  know  and  the  Bureau  of  the  Census,  in  its 
detailed  report  gives  analysis  of  how  women  are  distributed 
among  all  the  subdivisions  of  the  industries.  But  in  striv- 
ing to  discover  what  number  of  women  are  in  labor  organ- 
izations, we  find  ourselves  all  at  sea.  Yet,  one  of  the 
first  questions  asked  by  foreign  students  or  by  anyone  who 
is  beginning  to  be  interested  in  the  women’s  labor  move- 
ment is  invariably  “How  many  women  trade  unionists  are 
there  in  the  United  States?”  The  amazed  questioner  is  told 
that  no  one  knows. 

The  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  has  no  complete  figures, 


68  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


although  some  state  bureaus  have  collected  information 
as  to  their  own  states.  The  American  Federation  of  Labor 
being  appealed  to,  say  the  oflScers  have  no  means  of  meas- 
uring the  unknown  quantity.  International  unions  when 
asked  to  supply  the  numbers  of  women  in  their  organiza- 
tions, are  often  unable  to  secure  it  themselves  from  their 
locals. 

If  neither  the  International  Unions  nor  the  A.  F.  of  L. 
can  meet  the  query,  and  it  is  a reasonable  one,  then  it  is 
sm-ely  time  for  some  branch  of  the  Department  of  Labor 
or  for  the  Bureau  of  the  Census  to  make  an  enquiry  and 
supply  statistics  which  are  absolutely  necessary  as  a basis 
for  studying  and  understanding  the  place  which  women  fill 
in  industry. 

For  this  and  other  reasons,  therefore,  the  information 
which  follows  regarding  the  status  of  the  different  unions 
with  women  members,  the  strength  of  their  woman  member- 
ship and  their  activities,  is  necessarily  fragmentary  and  in- 
complete; with  some  of  the  largest  unions  it  is  the  more 
difficult  to  give  a consistent  and  intelligent  picture  because 
the  last  few  years  have  seen  such  unusual  variations  in  the 
standing  of  the  unions  themselves. 

During  the  war  the  labor  movement  gained  greatly  both 
in  numerical  strength  and  in  power  to  enforce  its  claims. 
After  1920  trade  unions  suffered  in  many  ways.  Cuts  in 
' wages  were  very  common ; broken  time  and  scarcity  of 
work  often  caused  a great  diminution  of  membership. 
Further,  the  unemployment  that  may  have  been  partly  a 
reaction  from  the  abnormal  national  expenditiire  during 
the  war  and  of  the  subsequent  disorganization  of  the  foreign 
trade  was  aggravated  by  a persistent  open  shop  or  anti- 
union drive  on  the  part  of  a certain  class  of  employers  and 
corporations. 

Under  these  circumstances,  and  until  fairly  accurate 


WOMEN  IN  MODERN  TRADE  UNIONS 


59 


figures  have  been  collected  over  a term  of  years,  mem- 
berships quoted  as  existing  at  the  particular  time  are  apt 
to  be  rather  uncertain,  the  lapse  of  a few  months  marring 
their  accuracy  even  when  they  have  been  most  carefully 
collected. 


BAKERY  AND  CONFECTIONERY  WORKERS 

The  Bakery  and  Confectionery  Workers’  International 
Union  of  America  report  that  at  least  75  per  cent  of  the 
candy  workers  are  women  who  are  hardly  organized  at  all. 
This  is  the  more  serious  as  it  is  both  a poorly  paid  trade, 
and  one  which  is  constantly  growing  in  size  and  importance, 
coincidently  with  the  war  and  with  the  introduction  of 
prohibition.  Being  a food  trade,  the  sanitary  conditions 
under  which  the  product  is  made  are  of  the  first  impor- 
tance to  the  public;  whereas  in  the  small  shops,  known  as 
candy  kitchens,  these  are  frequently  of  low  standard. 

INTERNATIONAL  BROTHERHOOD  OF  BOOKBINDERS 

Bookbinding  as  an  occupation  is  a part  of  the  printing 
trade,  and  locals  of  bookbinders  belong  to  the  allied  print- 
ing trades’  council  of  a city.  It  is  a frequent  complaint, 
nevertheless,  that  some  shops  in  which  the  printers  are 
organized,  either  employ  in  the  bookbinding  operations 
girls  who  are  not  organized,  or,  what  is  the  same  thing,  have 
their  binding  done  elsewhere  by  non-union  girls.  This  is 
a serious  drawback  and  makes  the  organization  of  bindery 
women  somewhat  more  diflficult. 

The  International  Brotherhood  of  Bookbinders  have  175 
local  unions,  11  of  which  are  composed  entirely  of  women; 
110  are  made  up  of  both  men  and  women,  and  the  re- 
maining 54  are  composed  entirely  of  men.  Membership 
figures  recently  made  up  showed  6000  to  be  women. 


60  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


In  organized  shops  the  members  enjoy  shorter  hours, 
higher  wages  and  better  working  conditions  all  around 
than  obtain  in  the  unorganized  shops.  The  women  mem- 
bers seldom  act  as  shop  stewards,  but  hold  responsible 
offices  as  members  of  their  local.  Three  out  of  the  eleven 
executive  council  members  are  women  and  they  also  do 
organizing  work  when  the  occasion  requires.  Some  of  the 
larger  women’s  locals  employ  permanent  salaried  organ- 
izers or  business  agents. 

BOOT  AND  SHOE  WORKERS 

The  average  membership  of  the  Boot  and  Shoe  Workers’ 
Union,  of  whom  about  one-third  are  women,  is  60,000.  The 
largest  organization  of  women  workers  is  the  Stitchers’ 
Local  154  of  Brockton,  hlassachusetts,  with  a membership 
of  2909,  of  whom  95  per  cent  are  women. 

The  48  hour  week  was  generally  established  in  the  union 
in  the  year  1917,  although  many  factories  had  enjoyed 
the  48  hour  week  previously.  In  1899  the  Boot  and  Shoe 
Workers’  Union  decided  to  raise  their  dues  to  25  cents  a 
week;  of  this  two-thirds  is  forwarded  to  headquarters  to 
cover  the  general  expenses  of  the  union.  From  the  na- 
tional funds  come  $5  a week  sick  benefit,  a strike  benefit, 
and  disability  and  death  benefit.  There  are  no  national 
agreements,  but  each  locality  negotiates  with  the  manu- 
facturers subject  to  the  approval  of  the  national.  One 
board  member  is  always  a woman,  and  one  or  more 
women  national  organizers  are  employed. 

INTERNATIONAL  UNION  OF  UNITED  BREWERY,  FLOUR,  CEREAL 
AND  SOFT  DRINKS  WORKERS 

In  a trade  which  has  been  so  severely  hit,  and  so  largely 
disorganized  by  prohibition,  the  employment  of  women 


WOMEN  IN  MODERN  TRADE  UNIONS 


61 


in  the  bottling  departments  has  greatly  decreased.  Union 
membership  has  suffered  in  like  measure.  The  women 
members  are  now  in  two  or  three  local  unions.  Women 
bottlers  benefited  greatly  through  organization.  In  many 
instances  their  wages  went  up  till  they  were  doubled  and 
more  than  doubled;  their  hours  were  reduced  to  the  eight 
horn-  day  and  the  48  hour  week.  The  physical  conditions 
under  which  they  worked  were  also  much  improved;  the 
floors  were  kept  dry;  there  were  fewer  injuries  from  broken 
glass;  proper  sanitary  provision  was  made  and  foremen 
were  less  overbearing. 

Women  members  have  the  same  position  as  to  dues  and 
benefits  as  the  men.  Women  members  act  as  secretaries 
of  their  unions  and  as  delegates  to  city  central  labor  bodies. 

GLASS  BOTTLE  BLOWERS 

There  are  scattering  members,  but  they  do  not  make 
bottles  or  handle  glass;  they  are  packers  and  do  other 
work  around  the  plants.  The  officers,  although  they  have 
had  but  little  success  so  far  with  the  women,  who  do  not 
seem  to  “stay  put,”  hope  to  get  better  results  in  the  future. 

UNITED  CLOTH  HAT  AND  CAPMAKERS  OF  NORTH  AMERICA 

This  organization,  dating  from  1901,  now  claims  to  be  in 
complete  control  of  the  cloth  cap  and  hat  making  trades, 
and  over  a substantial  part  of  the  machine  made  millinery 
trade. 

The  makers  of  caps  have  long  gone  through  every  phase 
of  sweat-shop  misery,  and  from  1902  on  the  new  inter- 
national maintained  an  incessant  struggle  to  better  condi- 
tions. The  strikes  and  the  lockouts  continued  over  a series 
of  years.  Now  there  is  the  week-work  system,  the  44-hour 
week,  with  provision  for  extra  payment  for  a limited 


62  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


amount  of  overtime,  none  of  which  must  fall  on  Saturdays 
or  holidays. 

Women’s  wages,  which  had  been  as  low  as  S8,  now  range 
from  $25  to  $60.  The  women  have  also  gained  a greater 
dignity  and  a deeper  consciousness. 

^ The  membership  is  at  present  much  below  the  average, 
only  about  7,000,  with  2,000  women  members.  There  are 
41  locals  in  25  cities.  Almost  all  have  women,  some  women 
alone.  There  are  women  members  on  a number  of  local 
boards,  also  on  the  New  York  local  coimcil.  There  is  a 
national  woman  organizer. 

Owing  to  the  crisis  in  the  trade  many  quite  loyal  mem- 
bers of  the  union  are  not  in  financial  standing;  otherwise 
the  membership  would  read:  total  12,000;  women  4,000. 

The  organization  publishes  two  journals,  one  in  English, 
the  other  in  Yiddish.  Systematic  educational  work  is  car- 
ried on. 


RAILWAY  CARMEN. 

Of  late  years  women,  both  white  and  colored,  have  be- 
come cleaners  of  the  railway  coaches.  As  such  they  are 
eligible  to  membership  in  the  union,  but  having  for  the 
last  year  been  taken  into  the  same  lodges,  the  oflScials  have 
DO  record  of  how  many  there  are.  Coach  cleaners, 
whether  men  or  women,  rank  financially  below  the  me- 
chanics, having  lower  wages,  and  paying  lower  dues,  50 
cents  a month  as  against  75  cents  for  mechanics,  and  60 
cents  for  helpers  and  apprentices.  Benefits  are  paid  to  all 
alike,  irrespective  of  amount  of  dues. 

Many  women  who  went  in  during  the  war  left  at  its 
close,  often  withdrawing  in  order  to  give  the  returning 
soldier  his  job  again.  The  women  in  this  employment 
went  out  on  strike  along  with  the  men  in  the  railway 


WOMEN  IN  MODERN  TRADE  UNIONS 


63 


shopmen’s  strike  of  1922-1923.  In  consequence  of  its  long 
duration,  many  drifted  into  other  employment. 

At  the  Toronto  Convention  in  August  1921,  every  wo- 
man’s lodge  sent  a delegate  with  full  voting  powers.  The 
women  delegates  took  a prominent  part  in  the  Convention. 

RAILWAY  AND  STEAMSHIP  CLERKS 

Through  membership  in  the  brotherhood  women  have 
been  able  to  secure  the  same  rate  of  pay  when  doing 
the  same  class  of  work.  There  are  quite  a number 
of  instances  of  women  officers  in  the  local  lodges,  and 
a few  women  have  also  held  positions  on  the  System 
Board.  At  times  the  Grand  Lodge  has  employed  women 
organizers. 

Women  are  found  in  765  locals  of  this  organization,  and 
they  number  between  16,000  and  17,000. 

All  agreements  provide  that  the  pay  of  women  employes 
shall  be  the  same  as  that  of  men  for  the  same  class  of 
work,  and  that  working  conditions  shall  be  healthful  and 
fitted  to  their  needs.  The  laws  enacted  for  the  govern- 
ment of  their  employment  must  be  observed. 

CIGAR  makers’  INTERNATIONAL  UNION 

Cigar  making  has  long  been  a highly  skilled  craft,  with 
both  men  and  women  employed.  Of  recent  years,  however, 
there  has  been  an  increasing  use  of  mechanical  appliances, 
with  specializing  and  team  work.  This  has  led  to  the  en- 
gaging of  unskilled  labor,  much  of  it  women’s  labor.  The 
latest  figures  for  the  trade,  as  furnished  to  the  convention 
of  1920  showed  about  50,000  men  and  61,000  women,  a 
decrease  in  seven  years  of  about  15,000  men,  as  against  an 
increase  of  about  19,000  women.  Of  the  men,  over  33,000 
were  in  the  union;  of  the  women,  only  7,000.  At  that  con- 


64.  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


vention  there  was  shown  an  emphatic  desire  to  meet  chang- 
ing conditions  by  extending  jurisdiction  over  the  less  skilled, 
thus  inducing  women  to  enter  the  union.  There  are  many 
separate  locals  of  women,  strippers  and  banders,  besides  the 
women  admitted  to  mixed  locals.  It  is  in  the  separate 
locals  that  women  show  the  greatest  acthdty.  The  im- 
provements the  trade  union  has  brought  are  higher  wages, 
shorter  hours,  and  excellent  sanitary  standards.  It  has  lit- 
erally given  life  to  its  members.  Principally  as  the  result 
of  organization,  the  death  rate  among  cigar  makers  from 
tuberculosis  has  in  twenty  years  gone  down  from  51  per 
cent  to  19  per  cent.  The  average  age  at  death,  on  the  other 
hand,  from  all  causes  has  increased  from  37  to  57  years. 

INTERNATIONAL  BROTHERHOOD  OF  ELECTRICAL  WORKERS 

Besides  the  telephone  operators,  dealt  with  elsewhere, 
there  have  been  a large  number  of  the  women  engaged  in 
making  electrical  supplies  and  equipment  in  the  men’s 
locals,  particularly  in  Schenectady.  Of  late  years,  the 
W'omen  in  the  movement  are  not  many,  except  in  a few 
places,  such  as  Chicago,  which  has  still  over  two  hundred 
members,  in  a women’s  local.  The  effect  everywhere  upon 
wages  and  hours  has  been  very  marked.  The  girls  report 
also  decided  improvement  in  the  foremen’s  way  of  giving 
orders  and  in  dealing  with  mistakes  or  diflBculties. 

INTERNATIONAL  FUR  WORKERS’  UNION 

The  fur  workers,  in  their  total  membership,  have  about 
2,500  women,  distributed  among  eighteen  locals.  The  re- 
sults of  organization  have  been  shorter  hours,  better  wages 
and  much  cleaner  workshops.  From  time  to  time  women 
have  taken  an  active  part  in  the  business  of  their  locals  as 
officers  and  board  members. 


WOMEN  IN  MODERN  TRADE  UNIONS 


65 


INTEENATIONAL  LADIES’  GARMENT  'WORNEES 

The  International  Ladies’  Garment  Workers  have  90 
locals  with  a membership  of  over  100,000,  of  whom  about 
50  per  cent  are  women  workers.  All  the  locals  are  mixed, 
including  both  men  and  women;  even  in  those  locals  the 
bulk  of  whose  membership  are  women  there  are  men  mem- 
bers who  work  as  cutters  and  pressers  since  there  are  no 
women  doing  that  work.  It  must  be  ranked  as  an  industry 
in  which  women  have  made  immense  advance  in  wages, 
hours,  and  sanitary  conditions,  all  of  which  advantages  they 
have  gained  hand  in  hand  with  the  men.  The  disappear- 
ance of  the  sweatshop  benefited  both  sexes,  the  decrease  in 
working  hours  from  70  or  over  to  44  has  been  won  through 
the  struggle  of  both  men  and  women  in  the  industry  and 
both  have  benefited  equally. 

The  Executive  Board  of  the  International  has  on  it  one 
woman  vice-president.  There  are  women  organizers  at 
work  throughout  the  eastern  states.  At  the  last  convention 
there  were  a number  of  women  delegates  in  attendance. 
Women  hold  many  positions  as  members  of  local  execu- 
tive boards,  local  secretaries  and  managers. 

The  activities  of  the  women  of  Locals  22  and  25,  the 
Waist  and  Dress  Makers,  in  New  York,  the  courage  and 
energy  with  which  they  have  taken  part  in  all  union  activi- 
ties, as  well  as  in  pioneering  in  the  field  of  workers’  educa- 
tion, have  made  of  them  a shining  example  to  women 
unionists  everywhere. 

THE  UNITED  GARMENT  WORKERS 

The  organization  was  the  original  international  union 
controlling  makers  of  men’s  clothing  and  affiliated  with 
the  American  Federation  of  Labor.  It  WEis  an  organization 


66  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


which  always  depended  largely  upon  the  use  of  the  union 
label.  Men  were  in  the  majority.  It  grew  in  numbers 
greatly  after  the  New  York  strike  of  1913  but  after  the 
secession  of  the  radical  wing  at  the  Nashville  Conven- 
tion of  1914,  which  ended  in  the  founding  of  the  Amalga- 
mated Clothing  Workers,  it  lost  its  hold  upon  many 
branches  of  the  trade,  and  in  the  large  cities  is  now  mainly 
limited  to  the  overalls  trade,  of  which  it  claims  monopoly. 
They  have  women  organizers. 

INTERNATIONAL  GLOVE  WORKERS  OF  AMERICA 

The  glove  trade  has  three  divisions,  fine  kid  dress  gloves, 
heavy  leather  gloves  and  fabric  gloves,  the  latter  in- 
cluding silk,  cotton,  canton  flannel  and  canvas.  Owing 
to  the  comparative  stiffness  of  most  of  the  materials 
used,  and  the  small  pieces  from  which  a glove  is  built 
up,  unusual  skill  and  longer  experience  than  is  necessarj’- 
in  most  machine  sewing  processes  are  required  in  the 
operator.  The  international  was  chartered  in  Washington 
in  1902. 

Glove  making  is  one  of  the  subsidiary  trades,  and  there- 
fore it  is  natimal  that  the  organization  should  not  have 
a very  numerous  membership.  Among  its  members,  how- 
ever, the  proportion  of  women  has  always  been  very  high. 
The  standard  of  the  union  work  accomplished  much  in 
abolishing  payment  for  power  or  machine  rent,  needles 
and  oil,  and  in  making  thoroughly  sound  ,agreements, 
agreements  which  stood  the  test  of  eighteen  years,  renewed, 
strengthened  from  time  to  time,  but  unbroken  during  the 
experience  of  all  those  years.  It  is  interesting  also  be- 
cause it  has  always  been  largely  officered  by  women.  It 
was  one  of  the  first  unions  to  feel  the  effect  of  the  open  shop 
drive  in  the  fall  of  1920.  The  five-months’  strike  which  fol- 


WOMEN  IN  MODERN  TRADE  UNIONS 


67 


lowed  in  Chicago  has  seriously  crippled  it  everywhere. 
One  by-result  of  the  strike  was  the  opening  of  a small  co- 
operative glove  factory.  Gloves  are  usually  thought  of 
as  luxuries,  yet  the  greater  proportion  of  the  gloves  made 
in  this  country  are  worn  by  teamsters,  street  car  men, 
railroad  men,  farmers  and  electricians.  With  the  ex- 
ception of  the  farmers,  all  the  others  are  in  organized 
trades,  are  keenly  interested  in  encouraging  union  labor, 
and  prefer  to  wear  union-made  gloves.  The  railroad  men 
especially  supported  the  project  from  the  start. 

HOTEL  AND  RESTAURANT  EMPLOYES 

In  no  trade  have  more  miserable  conditions  existed  than 
among  the  waitresses  before  the  days  of  organization. 
In  none  are  the  results  of  co-operative  effort  more  clearly 
to  be  seen.  There  are  186  locals  with  women  members. 
Sometimes  the  local  will  have  none  but  women  and  it  is 
then  a waitresses’  local.  More  often  the  locals  are  mixed. 
In  either  case,  all  form  part  of  Hotel  and  Restaurant  Em- 
ployees’ International  Alliance. 

In  the  majority  of  union  establishments  gone  are  the 
old  abuses,  such  as  having  to  do  “side  work,”  including 
among  other  tasks  the  mopping  of  dining-room  floors,  wash- 
ing chairs  and  tables,  washing  and  ironing  of  napkins,  and 
the  preparing  of  vegetables.  Union  waitresses  also  have 
their  own  separate  toilet  and  rest  rooms,  with  individual 
clothing  lockers  and  ready  laundered  aprons.  They  are 
protected  against  the  many  insults  and  liberties  that  a 
young  girl  standing  alone  has  to  meet.  They  can  expect 
a wage  of  from  $15  to  $18  a week,  with  two  proper  meals. 
They  have  one  day  a week  off,  and  an  eight  hour  day, 
which  must  not  extend  over  nine  hours.  Many  women 
are  local  officers,  and  the  general  Secretary-Treasurer  de- 


68  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


scribes  them,  after  they  have  overcome  their  first  feeling 
of  timidity  and  inexperience,  as  active  and  loyal,  and 
“gluttons  for  work.”  There  is  one  woman  board  member, 
and  there  have  been  women  employed  for  years  as  na- 
tional organizers. 

Waitresses  are  a wandering  race.  They  carry  their  trade 
along  with  them,  knowing  that  everywhere  people  have  to 
eat.  Wherever  they  go,  they  make  new  friends,  so  there 
is  more  exchanging  of  ideas  between  girls,  between  or- 
ganized and  unorganized,  than  in  many  other  occupations. 
This  has  resulted  in  many  non-union  places  agreeing  to 
live  up  to  something  like  union  standards.  The  employers 
have  yielded  to  the  demands  of  even  unorganized  girls, 
fearing  that  if  they  refused  their  employes  might  join  the 
union. 


LAUNDBY  WOBKERS  INTEBNATIONAL  UNION 

The  Laundry  Workers  have  92  local  unions,  all  of  them 
with  women  members  in  the  proportion  of  about  80  per  cent 
of  the  whole,  about  4,000.  Almost  all  union  laundries  work 
the  eight  hour  day  and  they  give  a minimum  wage  of  not 
less  than  $15  a week.  Unorganized  women  laundry  workers 
often  work  nine  hours,  and  in  some  southern  states,  ten 
hours,  with  a wage  averaging  from  $9  to  $10  a week.  This 
poor  showing  is  particularly  common  in  the  southern  states. 
The  union  also  guarantees  higher  sanitary  standards,  such 
as  having  women’s  dressing  rooms  separate  from  the 
dressing  rooms  of  the  male  employes. 

Women  members  occupy  most  of  the  offices  in  the  local 
unions.  In  the  large  San  Francisco  local,  with  1,800  mem- 
bers, the  offices  are  divided  up.  President,  a man;  vice- 
president,  a woman;  secretary  and  assistant  secretary, 
women;  business  agent,  a man.  The  general  executive 


WOMEN  IN  MODERN  TRADE  UNIONS 


69 


board  has  nine  members  of  whom  one  is  a woman;  she  and 
occasionally  others,  do  organizing.* 

UNITED  LEATHEE  WOEKEKS 

There  are  many  women  engaged  in  the  leather  industry, 
unorganized.  The  international  union  is  doing  everything 
within  its  power  to  bring  them  into  the  labor  movement,  so 
that  they  may  enjoy  the  benefits  of  united  action. 

AMAIUAMATED  MEAT  CUTTEES  AND  BUTCHEE  WOEKMBN  OP 
NOETH  AMEBICA 

The  story  of  the  organization  of  the  girls  in  the  meat- 
packing plants  of  Chicago  and  other  large  cities  is  a dis- 
couraging one.  Twice  there  have  been  large  groups  organ- 
ized in  Chicago;  in  1902  when  the  larger  proportion  of  the 
workers  were  Irish  and  American  in  nationality,  and  again 
in  1920-1921,  with  a membership  chiefly  Polish,  but  also 
embracing  other  nationalities.  On  both  occasions  there  has 
been  a long  maintained  struggle  for  better  industrial  stand- 
ards, and  on  both  occasions  the  struggle  has  been  lost  by 
the  workers.  While  the  organization  still  remains,  it  now 
includes  no  women. 

NATIONAL  FEDERATION  OF  POST  OFFICE  CLERKS 

Women  take  an  important  share  in  the  safe  and  speedy . 
transportation  and  distribution  of  our  mail;  there  being  no 
fewer  than  590  locals  with  women,  accoimting  for  a total 

*For  an  account  of  what  organization  has  done  in  laundries  the 
reader  should  consult  “Women  in  Trade  Unions  in  San  Francisco.” 
Lillian  R.  Matthews.  University  of  California,  1913.  Miss  Mat- 
thews’ account  of  laundry  conditions  is  summarized  in  the  “Trade 
Union  Woman.”  Alice  Henry. 


70  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


of  4,000  women  members.  The  second  vice-president  is  a 
woman,  who  is  active  in  organization  work  in  the  Western 
States  District.  Many  locals  have  voluntary  women  organ- 
izers, but  none  paid. 

EAILROAD  TELEGRAPHEBS 

The  Order  of  Railroad  Telegraphers  have  about  3,000 
women  in  their  xmion.  Dues  and  benefits  are  the  same. 
From  time  to  time  they  have  employed  a woman  organizer. 

There  are  144  subordinate  divisions,  practically  all  of 
which  have  women  members.  Wages  have  been  increased 
200  per  cent  since  organizing,  hours  of  labor  reduced  from 
an  unlimited  number  to  eight  per  day  and  the  working 
month  reduced  from  31  to  26  days.  Women  are  eligible 
to  any  office  in  the  organization,  and  invariably  take  an 
active  part  in  the  affairs  of  the  subordinate  di\’isions. 

INTERNATIONAL  TYPOGRAPHICAL  UNION 

There  are  over  2,000  union  women  printers,  which  is  but 
a fraction  of  the  whole  organization,  totaling  about  75,000. 
The  women  are  distributed  among  the  locals,  between  eight 
and  nine  hundred  in  number.  A woman  sometimes  serves 
as  secretary  of  a local,  and  Miss  Anna  Wilson,  of  Wash- 
ington, was  for  several  years  a member  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees  of  the  Union  Printers’  Home  at  Colorado  Springs. 
There  are  usually  one  or  more  women  delegates  at  the  con- 
ventions, and  women  are  serving  their  respective  local 
unions  in  various  capacities  in  all  sections  of  the  country. 

upholsterers’  international  union 

The  Upholsterers’  International  Union,  with  a total  mem- 
bership of  over  8,000,  has  over  2,000  women  members,  and 


WOMEN  IN  MODERN  TRADE  UNIONS  71 

five  locals  composed  of  women  exclusively.  Six  locals  are 
mixed.  Women  organizers  are  occasionally  employed  by 
the  International,  and  there  are  women  organizers  in  locals 
in  several  large  cities.  This  organization  stands  out  in  the 
labor  movement  of  America,  in  that  the  constitution  makes 
it  compulsory  to  have  at  least  two  women  on  the  Executive 
Board.  The  results  of  organization  have  been  increase  of 
wages,  shortening  of  hours  and  improvement  of  working 
conditions. 

UNIONS  UNAFFILIATED  WITH  THE  AMEEICAN  FEDERATION  OF 

LABOR 

The  organizations  touched  upon  so  far  have  all  been 
unions  affiliated  with  the  American  Federation  of  Labor. 
There  are  also  national  labor  imions  with  women,  which 
for  one  reason  or  another  are  not  in  such  afiiliation,  but 
which  nevertheless  cannot  be  overlooked,  the  most  impor- 
tant being  the  Amalgamated  Clothing  Workers  of  America. 
Besides  national  groupings  there  are,  particularly  in  the 
East,  many  independent  local  unions  with  women  who  draw 
their  membership  from  one  city  or  district  only.  Most  of 
them  are  in  the  textile  and  the  shoe  industries. 

AMALGAMATED  CLOTHING  WORKERS  OF  AMERICA 

Among  the  unaffiliated  groups  this  is  the  largest  organi- 
zation containing  women.  As  a separate  body  it  dates 
back  to  the  Nashville  Convention  of  the  United  Garment 
Workers  of  1914  when  most  of  the  locals,  composed  of  the 
Slavic- Jewish  and  other  foreign  workers,  seceded,  and 
formed  the  new  union. 


72  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


The  most  recent  figures  to  hand  give  a membership  of 
140,000,  of  whom  about  57,400  are  women.  The  larger 
number  of  these  are  employed  in  Chicago  and  Rochester, 
New  York;  Baltimore  and  Boston  come  next. 

There  are  148  locals,  all  of  them  containing  women  mem- 
bers, except  one  or  two  cutters’  locals  and  the  pressers’ 
locals.  Seven  of  the  joint  boards  in  the  large  cities  have 
women  secretaries.  The  secretarial  work  for  33  locals  out 
of  the  entire  148  is  done  by  women.  There  have  also  been 
many  women  organizers,  both  Jewesses  and  Gentiles,  main- 
tained from  headquarters. 

TEXTILE  UNIONS 

In  April,  1919,  great  textile  strikes  were  in  progress  in 
Lawrence,  Massachusetts,  and  in  Paterson  and  Passaic, 
New  Jersey,  and  other  textile  centers.  Thus  it  came  about 
that  groups  of  workers  either  not  belonging  to  the  United 
Textile  Workers  or  desiring  to  secede  from  them,  met  in 
New  York  in  April,  1919,  along  with  knit  goods  workers, 
and  the  Amalgamated  Textile  Workers  of  America  was 
formed.  About  one-third  of  the  membership  is  women, 
divided  among  silk  workers  in  New  York  City,  and  woolen 
workers  in  the  southern  New  England  States.  There  is  no 
, separate  report  of  work  done  but  they  make  an  excellent 
showing  in  regular  organization  work. 

The  American  Federation  of  Textile  Operatives  is  a seces- 
sion organization,  which  broke  away  from  the  United 
Textile  Workers  on  questions  of  payment  of  dues  and  per 
capita  tax.  Although  a national  organization,  it  is  re- 
ported as  waning.  Its  influence  is  mainly  in  New  England, 
the  largest  locals  being  in  and  around  Fall  River,  New 
Bedford  and  Salem. 


WOMEN  IN  MODERN  TRADE  UNIONS 


73 


SHOE  WORKEES’  UNIONS 

The  shoe  industry  is  one  of  those  in  which  there  exist 
cross  currents  of  independent  organization.  During  the 
last  thirty  years  there  have  been  several  secessions  from  the 
Boot  and  Shoe  Workers’  Union.  The  best  known  of  these 
seceding  groups  or  dual  organizations  is  the  United  Shoe 
Workers  of  America.  In  Lynn  there  is  a very  large  local 
of  Lady  Stitchers. 

INDUSTRIAL  WORKERS  OF  THE  WORLD 

The  Industrial  Workers  of  the  World  hold  any  woman 
who  works  for  wages  eligible  to  membership,  and  they 
report  a large  number  of  women  members.  Although  it  is 
impossible  to  supply  details,  there  are  women  members  in 
the  textile  groups  and  also  large  numbers  among  the  fruit 
pickers,  canners  and  other  seasonal  migratory  workers 
on  the  Pacific  Coast;  also  educational  workers  and  food- 
stuffs workers.  Women  speak  and  act  as  delegates. 

SOME  TYPICAL  SITUATIONS:  SHIRTS  AND  COLLARS 

The  shirt  and  collar  industry  is  one  of  those  concen- 
trated almost  entirely  in  one  district,  in  and  around  the 
city  of  Troy,  N.  Y.  We  cannot  help  knowing  this  if  it 
were  from  nothing  but  the  advertisements  of  good  looking 
young  men  displaying  the  very  latest  fashion  in  collars 
as  they  meet  our  eyes  on  railway  platforms  and  in  street 
cars.  Ninety  per  cent  of  all  the  shirts  and  collars  used 
in  this  country  are  said  to  be  made  in  that  one  spot. 

Troy  is  also  a laundry  center,  as  the  shirt  and  collar  fac- 
tories run  their  own  huge  laundries.  The  laundrying  of  the 
collar  is  quite  as  important  as  the  cutting  or  the  sewing. 


74  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


The  name  of  Troy  is  associated  with  two  huge  strikes 
in  the  laundry  branch  of  the  trade.  The  first  of  these 
strikes  was  in  1869.  There  was  a most  active  and  pros- 
perous union  in  existence.  The  organization  had  raised 
the  wages  of  its  members  from  an  average  of  two  or  three 
dollars  a week  to  a scale  of  from  eight  to  fourteen  dollars, 
according  to  the  class  of  work. 

Under  Kate  Mullaney,  who  the  year  before  had  been 
made  national  organizer  of  women  for  the  National  Labor 
Union,  the  workers  went  on  strike  for  a raise.  After  a long 
hard  struggle  they  were  beaten  and  the  union  crushed. 

The  lifetime  of  a whole  generation  passed  away  and 
succession  after  succession  of  workers  filled  the  Troy  fac- 
tories, when  in  1905  the  workers  of  that  day  were  faced 
with  their  own  troubles.  The  employes,  22,000  in  number, 
of  whom  8,000  were  women,  were  almost  entirely  American 
born.  The  Manufacturers’  Association  included  eight 
firms  working  under  a rigid  agreement.  During  the  preced- 
ing few  years  a change  had  taken  place  in  the  management 
of  the  industry.  The  older  women  described  how  they 
had  enjoyed  short  hours,  eight  hours  being  quite  common, 
not  going  to  work  until  nine  o’clock.  Speaking  and  laugh- 
ing formerly  allowed  were  now  hea%dly  fined.  There  was 
great  strictness  regarding  punctuality,  three  days’  fine,  for 
instance,  for  being  three  minutes  late  on  account  of  ice. 
Work  was  irregular,  some  girls  being  kept  on  all  day  but 
given  work  only  for  an  hour  or  two.  There  would  be  a 20 
or  25  cents  fine  for  dropping  a collar  on  the  floor  and 
the  fine  even  reached  to  a dollar  if  collars  became  soiled 
on  the  drying  bars. 

Eleven  girls  asked  to  see  the  manager  but  were  put 
off  and  refused.  They  were  afterwards  summarily  dis- 
missed, in  a manner  which  deeply  offended  them. 

The  principal  grievance  was  the  introduction  of  the 


WOMEN  IN  MODERN  TRADE  UNIONS 


75 


starching  machine.  It  was  scalding  hot  work  using  the 
machine.  The  first  machine  introduced  cut  the  prices  from 
four  to  two  cents  a dozen.  The  regular  workers  were  laid 
off  and  new  raw  help  taken  in. 

The  girls  chose  their  leader,  Bernard  Feldman,  but  they 
largely  directed  the  strike  themselves.  It  was  the  first  of 
a new  kind  of  strike  among  women.  The  girls  raised 
$25,000,  visiting  other  cities  for  the  purpose.  They  drew 
financial  aid  from  the  International  Laimdry  Workers’ 
Union  but  before  the  strike  ended  there  were  serious  dis- 
putes between  the  local  and  the  international.  Meanwhile 
the  laxmdry  workers  made  bold  demands  upon  the  sym- 
pathies of  the  citizens  and  especially  of  other  women. 

Mrs.  Rheta  Childe  Dorr  was  then  Chairman  of  the  In- 
dustrial Committee  of  the  General  Federation  of  Women’s 
Clubs,  and  she  wrote  and  spoke  for  them.  Miss  .Mary 
Terry,  the  local  president,  and  Mrs.  Dora  Brophy  appealed 
for  help  to  Miss  Gertrude  Barnum,  national  organizer  for 
the  newly  organized  New  York  Women’s  Trade  Union 
League,  and  she  and  others,  including  Miss  Ida  Rauh,  Miss 
Martha  Bensley  (Mrs.  Robert  Bruere),  and  Miss  Stokes, 
represented  the  Women’s  Trade  Union  League  most  effec- 
tively. 

The  women  of  the  League  tried  to  effect  a settlement  in 
which  they  were  supported  by  the  Mayor  of  the  city  and 
the  Troy  Federation  of  Labor.  The  New  York  State 
Department  of  Labor  report  for  1905  states  quite  clearly 
that  it  was  the  employers  who  steadily  refused  arbitration, 
although  the  workers  desired  it  and  asked  for  it. 

As  the  months  went  on  funds  became  exhausted,  courage 
sapped  and  the  girls  found  it  impossible  to  hold  out. 

This  strike  too,  like  the  earlier  one,  ended  in  seeming 
defeat,  but  called  attention  to  many  evils  which  were  rem- 
edied, made  for  better  conditions  for  laundry  workers,  and 


76  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


helped  to  educate  the  public  to  a sense  of  responsibility  for 
industrial  unrest,  and  was  of  nation-wide  significance  in 
calling  attention  to  the  possibility  of  arbitration  in  indus- 
trial disputes. 


THE  TEXTILE  INDUSTBY 

The  textile  industry,  which  employs  vast  numbers  of 
women,  differs  greatly  from  garment  making;  the  latter  is  a 
trade  requiring  little  capital  and  the  workers  have  continu- 
ally to  face  the  menace  of  new  small  shops  springing  up 
that  have  to  be  brought  into  line.  Textile  mills  do  not 
spring  up  over  night  like  this  as  they  require  large  sums  of 
capital  before  a start  can  be  made,  but  on  the  other  hand 
the  capital  is  far  more  strongly  entrenched  and  employers 
more  closely  linked  together.  The  textile  industry  covers 
woven,  knitted  or  felted  goods,  from  carpets  to  lace,  and 
made  of  wool,  silk,  or  any  kind  of  fibre ; goods  in  the  piece 
or  made-up  articles,  like  sweaters  or  stockings. 

The  textile  industry  has  a great  hold  upon  New  England 
and  North  Atlantic  states.  Fall  River  and  Lowell  are 
still  as  they  were  one  hundred  years  ago,  great  mill  cen- 
ters. Further  south,  Paterson,  New  Jersey,  and  Philadel- 
phia are  other  localities  dotted  with  silk  mills.  The  latter 
is  the  largest  single  textile  center  in  the  country.  Innumer- 
able other  towns  in  Pennsylvania  are  given  over  to  the  same 
trade.  The  processes,  especially  of  preparation  and  finish- 
ing, are  somewhat  different  in  the  woolen,  cotton  and  silk 
plants.  The  South  Atlantic  'states  are  extensive  pro- 
ducers of  cotton  yarn. 

The  vastness  of  the  trade  is  thus  described  in  the  Ameri- 
can Labor  Year  Book  for  1921: 

In  the  value  of  its  annual  product  and  of  capitalization,  the 
textile  industry  ranks  second  and  third,  respectively,  among  the 


WOMEN  IN  MODERN  TRADE  UNIONS 


77 


leading  industries  of  the  United  States.  In  number  of  workers  it 
stands  first,  running  well  over  a million  in  all  its  branches.  Most 
people  in  thinking  of  textile  processes,  think  only  of  weavers, 
spmners  and  loomfixers.  In  a worsted  mill  of  common  type, 
there  are  often  as  many  as  25  separate  jobs  or  occupations. 

Some  of  these  jobs  are  highly  skilled,  requiring  long  training, 
and  where  there  are  effective  unions,  several  years  of  apprentice- 
ship. Others  require  httle  training  or  skill.  Still  others  are 
machine  tending  occupations  which  can  be  filled  by  an  immigrant 
who  has  never  seen  the  inside  of  a factory,  or  by  a ten  year  old 
child. 


A SHOE  workers'  STRIKE 

The  eflBciency  and  careful  management  of  the  long  es- 
tablished and  conservative  Boot  and  Shoe  Workers’  Union 
was  recently  severely  tested.  The  Boot  and  Shoe  Manu- 
facturers’ Association,  Cincinnati,  in  1922  unsuccessfully 
proposed  to  their  operatives  a reduction  of  wages  of  from 
ten  to  twenty-five  per  cent.  A second  proposal  of  ten  per 
cent  met  with  no  better  fate.  The  national  officers  tried 
to  effect  a settlement,  but  in  vain;  and  at  length,  although 
unwillingly,  sanctioned  the  calling  of  a strike.  There  was  a 
great  deal  of  unemployment  at  the  time.  For  seven  months 
3,000  workers  remained  out,  of  whom  fewer  than  100  re- 
turned to  work. 

Representatives  of  the  government  on  two  occasions 
endeavored  to  effect  a compromise. 

One  remarkable  feature  was  the  national  handling  of 
the  situation.  The  officers  had  certainly  not  desired  a 
strike;  but  they  realized  that  the  maintenance  of  the  en- 
tire organization  was  at  stake,  and  that  if  beaten  in  Cin- 
cinnati, the  same  process  would  have  to  be  gone  through 
in  every  large  shoe  center.  The  recognition  of  the  union 
and  the  re-employment  of  strikers  were  the  two  points  on 


78  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


which  they  could  not  afford  to  be  beaten.  Sanctioning 
the  strike  meant  the  undertaking  to  pay  strike  benefit  as 
long  as  the  struggle  should  last.  This  was  accordingly 
done.  Twice,  however,  not  being  desirous  of  lowering  their 
benefit  balance  below  the  amount  that  should  be  main- 
tained as  a guarantee  to  members  of  the  payment  of  sick, 
death  and  disability  benefits,  and  being  unwilling  to  make 
an  assessment,  the  General  Executive  Board  appealed  to  the 
entire  membership  for  contributions  to  the  Cincinnati  strike 
fund.  Results  justified  this  course,  for  the  sum  thus  raised, 
supplemented  by  donations  from  general  funds  of  the  or- 
ganization enabled  the  National  Executive  Board  to  pay 
out  to  every  striker  the  full  constitutional  strike  benefit,  up 
till  the  time  that  the  strike  was  called  off. 

The  settlement  provided  for  the  acceptance  of  a reduc- 
tion of  five  per  cent  on  piece  work  and  day  hands,  with 
an  additional  five  per  cent  on  36  pair  lots;  the  reduction 
not  to  apply  to  any  day  workers  earning  less  than  S14.00 
a week.  The  union  was  recognized  and  relations  between 
union  committees  and  manufacturers’  committees  and  rep- 
resentatives were  renewed. 

THE  NEEDLE  TRADES 

The  needle  trades  cover  the  industry  employing  women 
which  has  accomplished  most  during  the  last  twenty  years, 
Jthough  the  effect  of  what  they  have  done  has  only  be- 
come visible  since  1910.  Of  the  organizations  included 
the  largest  are  the  Amalgamated  Clothing  Workers  of 
America  (unafiBliated  with  the  A.  F.  of  L.),  the  United 
Garment  Workers  and  the  International  Ladies’  Garment 
Workers,  in  regular  affiliation.  Besides  these  there  are  the 
United  Cloth  Hat  and  Cap  Makers  and  Fur  Workers. 

Shoe  Workers  and  Glove  Workers,  although  their  trades 


WOMEN  IN  MODERN  TRADE  UNIONS 


79 


are  essentially  sewing  crafts,  are  always  thought  of  in  con- 
nection with  the  leather  trades,  from  the  material  of  which 
most  of  their  product  is  composed. 

The  workers  in  all  of  these  occupations  are  almost  en- 
tirely immigrants  from  Eastern  Europe,  and  mostly  Slavic 
Jews,  with  Poles,  Bohemians,  Hungarians,  Lithuanians  and 
Italians.  In  the  International  Ladies’  Garment  Workers 
the  Cloakmakers  were  the  pioneers.  They  took  the  first 
steps  towards  forming  an  international  of  all  those  making 
women’s  garments.  The  trade  was  then  a sweated  trade 
carried  on  in  the  sweatshops  and  the  tenements  of  the  large 
cities.  With  the  beginnings  of  organization  opposition 
to  the  claims  for  union  terms  and  for  improved  conditions 
was  redoubled.  In  1905  the  Reefer  Makers  declared  a 
strike,  pressing  the  point  that  they  should  not  have  to 
find  their  own  machines.  The  strike  was  one  of  the  most 
hotly  contested,  accompanied  by  even  more  than  the  usual 
violence,  slugging  of  the  unionists,  needless  arrests  and 
jail  sentences.  But  the  workers  won.  The  Shirt  Waist 
Makers  were  the  next  group  to  rise.  Almost  simultaneously 
in  New  York,  Boston,  and  Philadelphia  the  unorganized 
workers  went  out — in  New  York  alone,  to  the  nmnber  of 
40,000.  This  industrial  uprising  began  in  November,  1909, 
and  lasted  until  February,  1910.  The  women  were  to  the 
front  everywhere.  It  was  a girls’  strike,  and  the  partial 
victory  won  was  a girls’  victory.  The  result  was  largely 
brought  about  through  the  support  of  the  New  York 
Women’s  Trade  Union  League. 

The  actual  terms  of  settlement,  and  the  actual  numbers 
enrolled  in  the  union  mattered  less  than  did  the  example 
they  had  set  to  all  other  needle-workers.  Even  girls 
could  win;  even  Jewesses,  individualists  as  they  were, 
could  be  organized,  and  being  organized,  could  show  the 
road  to  be  followed.  The  general  strike  (moved  by  Clara 


80  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


Lemlich,  at  the  meeting  in  Cooper  Union,  where  Mr. 
Gompers  presided,  when  with  hand  upraised,  she  called 
upon  her  fellows  to  keep  the  old  Jewish  oath  of  faith  to 
one  another)  had  taught  them  something.  Such  a strike 
could  so  tie  up  an  unorganized  industry  that,  given  patience 
and  endurance,  manufactm-ers  would  come  to  terms  and 
recognize  the  union. 

The  strikes  of  the  shirt-waist  girls  stirred  the  workers  in 
the  cloak  industry.  If  the  girls  could  achieve  notable  gains 
by  a fight  to  a finish,  then  surely  it  was  a shame  for  the 
cloakmakers  much  longer  to  submit  to  the  semi-slavery 
which  then  prevailed  in  the  shops.  This  resulted  in  the 
calling  of  a general  strike  of  the  cloakmakers  in  New  York 
City  in  June,  1910.  After  seven  weeks  the  protocol  was 
signed  by  the  Cloak  Manufacturers’  Association  and  the 
union.  Relations  were  established  upon  a union  basis  with 
a Board  of  Grievances  and  a Board  of  Arbitration.  “The 
Protocol,”  writes  one  member,  “with  the  association  of 
influential  manufacturers  practically  substituted  media- 
tion, arbitration  and  the  collective  bargain  for  the  shop 
strikes  that  had  been  so  habitual  with  the  work  people  in 
the  past.” 

In  1913,  the  International  Ladies’  Garment  Workers’ 
Union  started  an  energetic  organization  campaign  among 
its  women  workers,  and  made  preparations  for  general 
strikes  of  the  Waist  and  Dress  Makers,  the  White  Goods 
Workers,  the  Wrapper  and  Kimono  Workers,  and  the  Chil- 
dren’s Dressmakers. 

The  Waist  and  Dress  Manufacturers  of  New  York  City, 
remembering  the  heroic  struggle  of  the  Shirt  Waist  Makers 
in  1909,  their  bravery  and  self-sacrifice,  and  remembering 
also  their  own  money  losses,  and  anxious  to  avoid  a repeti- 
tion of  that  struggle,  entered  into  negotiations  with  the 
General  Executive  Board  of  the  International  Ladies’  Garr 


i WOMEN  IN  MODERN  TRADE  UNIONS  81 

I ment  Workers’  Union  and  agreed  to  a collective  agreement 
I similar  in  all  respects  to  the  protocol  of  the  cloak  industry. 
' This  occurred  in  June,  1913.  Since  then  they  have  had  to 
wage  hard  struggles  for  their  organizations  several  times, 
but  the  Waist  and  Dressmakers’  Union  is  a reality  today 
and  a factor  not  only  in  the  International  Ladies’  Garment 
Workers,  but  in  the  labor  movement  as  a whole.  They  were 
the  first  to  struggle  for  the  44-hour  week,  in  1919,  and  also 
for  the  40-hour,  5-day  week  in  the  needle  industry,  which 
they  won  in  February,  1923. 

The  International  Ladies’  Garment  Workers  in  1914  at 
their  convention  appropriated  $1,500  for  educational  activi- 
ties, and  classes  were  organized  in  the  Rand  School.  In 
1915  the  Waistmakers  Local  25  organized  its  own  classes 
in  a public  school  building  under  the  name  of  Unity  Center, 
in  co-operation  with  the  New  York  Board  of  Education. 
At  the  following  convention  the  plan  of  the  Waistmakers 
was  accepted  and  more  Unity  Centers  were  opened,  with 
Miss  Juliet  Stuart  Poyntz  as  director  and  Miss  Fannia 
M.  Cohn  as  executive  secretary,  who  is  still  continuing  in 
that  capacity. 

What  the  girls  tried  out  the  International  has  developed 
to  a remarkable  degree. 

At  present  the  International  Ladies’  Garment  Workers’ 
Union  appropriates  $17,500  a year  for  the  education  of  its 
members.  The  educational  department,  through  which  ex- 
tensive educational  work  is  carried  on,  includes  activities 
for  almost  every  group  of  its  large  membership.  These  are 
free  to  all  union  members. 

In  New  York  there  are  now  eight  Unity  Centers.  Since 
most  of  the  members  are  of  foreign  birth,  English  is  taught 
in  all  of  the  Centers.  In  addition  to  the  English  classes, 
the  union  independently  arranges  courses  in  applied  eco- 
nomics, history  and  problems  of  the  labor  movement,  and 


82  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


the  development  of  industry.  They  also  have  classes  in 
physical  training  under  trained  teachers.  The  international 
also  has  a Workers’  University,  where  courses  in  the  social 
sciences,  literatme  and  psychology  are  given,  arranged  for 
the  more  advanced  members.  The  classes  meet  on  Saturday 
afternoons  and  Sunday  mornings. 

In  1920,  seven  locals  of  the  I.  L.  G.  W.  U.  established 
their  own  Union  Health  Center  for  all  the  members  of  the 
International  Ladies’  Garment  Workers’  Union.  This  in- 
cludes a medical  service  and  a dental  clinic  with  special 
lectures  and  com-ses  on  health  subjects.  The  union  pro- 
vided and  equipped  one  of  the  most  modern  health  centers 
of  its  kind.  This  is  the  first  time  that  a union  has  carried 
on  its  own  health  service  for  its  own  members.  The  center 
is  a self-supporting,  cooperative  institution,  with  emphasis 
upon  preventive  medicine  and  industrial  hygiene,  taking 
for  its  motto,  "In  sanitation  and  in  health  as  well  as 
wealth,  the  salvation  of  the  workers  depends  on  the  work- 
ing class  itself.” 

The  Joint  Board  of  Sanitary  Control  in  New  York 
which  has  upon  it  representatives  of  the  employers,  the 
union  and  the  public,  keeps  a constant  oversight  on  fixe 
hazards,  right  posture  and  seating,  toilet  facilities,  light, 
ventilation  and  heating. 

The  general  strike  among  the  makers  of  men’s  clothing 
which  struck  Chicago  in  the  Fall  of  1910,  included  at  first, 
few  trade  unionists.  The  workers  poured  out  of  the  unor- 
ganized shops  till  in  a brief  time  50,000  were  supposed  to 
be  out.  This  lasted  five  months.  In  addition  to  looking  to 
the  local  and  national  union  of  the  The  United  Garment 
Workers,  the  strikers  had  the  strong  backing  of  the 
Chicago  Federation  of  Labor  and  the  Chicago  Women’s 
Trade  Union  League.  Besides  putting  the  garment  work- 
ers’ case  before  the  public,  providing  bail,  and  protecting 


WOMEN  IN  MODERN  TRADE  UNIONS 


83 


both  girls  and  men,  these  organizations  established  com- 
missary stores  which  made  the  strikers’  money  go  much 
farther,  and  enabled  them  to  hold  out  long. 

The  most  notable  result  of  the  strike  was  the  return  to 
work  under  an  agreement  of  the  thousands  of  employes 
of  Hart,  Schaffner  and  Marx.  It  was  a signed  agreement, 
which  permitted  no  discrimination  against  strikers.  It  has 
stood  the  test  of  time,  the  administrative  machinery  being 
gradually  developed,  and  its  terms  agreed  to  by  other  manu- 
facturers, until  now  all  the  large  manufacturing  centers  have 
the  plants  organized  upon  this  system.  When  the  Amal- 
gamated Clothing  Workers  was  formed  as  an  independent 
organization,  relations  with  the  employer  firms  were  main- 
tained. 

In  some  of  the  large  cities,  the  women’s  energies  have 
found  scope  through  the  general  women’s  local,  which  they 
have  themselves  established.  The  women  may  transfer 
from  the  ordinary  mixed  local,  such  as  a pants  makers,  or 
a coat  makers,  and  take  out  a card  in  the  women’s  local. 
In  Chicago,  for  example,  there  are  600  girls  so  organized, 
with  Anna  Snyder  as  president,  who  conduct  their  own 
affairs  under  their  own  officers.  They  are  represented  on 
the  Joint  Board  by  five  delegates.  The  president  of  the 
Board  of  Directors  of  the  Joint  Board  itself  is  a woman, 
Clara  Leon. 

The  women’s  local  co-operates,  not  only  on  the  economic 
side  of  the  industrial  struggle,  but  in  the  educative  activi- 
ties, in  managing  the  symphony  concerts  and  lectures,  and 
in  class  work.  They  are  planning  to  have  a swimming  pool 
and  a gymnasium  in  the  new  headquarters. 

In  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  a similar  women’s  local  has  6,000 
members,  a large  proportion  active.  The  women  furnish 
their  quota  of  shop  chairmen,  and  every  shop  has  its  girls’ 
committee.  There  is  an  executive  committee  of  ten  girls. 


84  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


who  plan  on  speakers  and  other  activities  for  the  local. 
They  also  take  their  part  in  directing  classes  and  general 
educational  meetings.  Sadie  Goodman  is  but  a type  of  the 
experienced  women  leaders,  whether  in  strikes,  in  settle- 
ments or  in  the  ordinary  every  day  work.  There  are  seven 
women  delegates  to  the  Joint  Board  in  Rochester.  Similar 
conditions  prevail  in  Baltimore. 

The  smaller  the  city,  the  greater  the  activity.  In  Louis- 
ville, the  business  agent  and  leader  of  the  Clothing  Workers 
is  a woman,  Emma  Saurer.  In  Minneapolis  and  St.  Paul, 
the  secretary-treasurer  of  the  Twin  City  Joint  Board  is 
Florence  Wallin.  Milwaukee,  again,  is  another  center  of 
energy  among  the  women.  Most  of  these  groups  are  in 
large  degree  composed  of  Americans. 

At  the  National  Convention  in  1922,  over  twenty  of  the 
delegates  were  women. 


Chapter  V 


WOMEN  IN  SOME  MODERN  TRADE  UNIONS 
(Continued) 

Nearly  a hundred  years  have  passed  since  textile  workers 
and  shoe  workers  and  sewing  workers  began  to  feel  their 
way  towards  concerted  effort  as  the  only  way  to  meet  the 
increasing  pressure  of  modern  industry,  and  among  all  the 
trades  employing  women,  spinning  and  weaving,  and  mak- 
ing of  shoes  and  the  making  of  clothes  are  by  general 
consent  still  well  to  the  front  as  organized  groups,  both  for 
the  number  of  women  employed  and  for  the  number 
organized.  Now  women  have  been  drawn  into  other  occu- 
pations, into  new  classes  of  work  whether  in  factory,  shop, 
office  or  classroom.  Gradually,  in  spite  of  social  prejudice, 
thousands  of  women  have  been  educated  up  to  an  under- 
standing of  what  the  collective  bargain  means  for  them, 
and  have  come  into  the  trade  imions  of  their  occupation. 
We  have  seen  this  with  bookbinders,  tobacco  workers  and 
cigar  makers,  and  waitresses  and  laundresses.  The  last 
few  years  have  seen  the  women  in  some  of  the  more  modern 
occupations  also  enrolling  themselves  in  trade  unions,  some- 
times entering  those  already  organized  by  men,  and  some- 
times forming  their  own.  Such  groups  are  teachers, 
telephone  operators,  federal  employes  and  stage  perform- 
ers. In  none  of  these  is  organization  as  yet  very  extensive, 
but  the  pioneering  spirit  is  there. 


85 


86  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


TEACHEBS 

The  first  teachers  to  unionize  were  the  classroom  teachers 
of  Chicago,  where  salaries  had  failed  to  keep  pace  with 
the  rising  cost  of  living,  or  bear  any  relation  to  the 
increasing  demands  made  upon  teachers.  Through  Mar- 
garet Haley  and  the  late  Catherine  Goggin,  the  Chicago 
Teachers’  Federation  was  formed,  which  then  and  ever 
since  has  embraced  a large  proportion  of  the  city’s  grade 
teachers.  As  an  organization  it  has  experienced  varying 
fortunes.  It  won  its  first  great  victory  for  increased  salaries 
through  the  wit  and  ability  of  its  leaders,  who  discovered 
that  large  amounts  of  money  owing  to  the  city  by  certain 
corporate  interests  were  not  being  collected.  Through  suit 
after  suit,  into  court  after  court,  they  patiently  carried 
their  case;  first  to  see  that  the  money  was  paid,  and  next 
to  see  that  some  of  it  came  the  teachers’  way.  The  teach- 
ers, almost  all  women,  early  learned  that  organized  labor 
was  their  best  friend ; also  that  the  teachers  of  the  children 
and  the  parents  of  the  children,  the  latter  in  great  majority 
working  people,  had  many  interests  in  common.  The 
Federation,  therefore,  in  1902,  on  invitation  from  the  Chi- 
cago Federation  of  Labor,  affiliated  with  that  body,  sending 
delegates  to  all  meetings. 

In  1915  the  Board  adopted  the  Loeb  rule  under  which 
teachers  were  forbidden  to  affiliate  with  labor,  and  in  their 
right  to  do  this,  the  Board  was  sustained  by  the  courts. 
In  the  meantime  the  Board  had  dropped  sixty-eight  teach- 
ers without  warning,  and  without  any  charges  having  been 
made  against  them.  A large  number  were  Federation 
teachers  and  officers.  They  were  women  marked  “good,” 
“excellent,”  “superior”  and  so  on. 

In  order  to  settle  the  matter,  and  remove  all  excuse 
for  not  reinstating  them,  and  to  end  an  impossible  situa- 


WOMEN  IN  MODERN  TRADE  UNIONS 


87 


tion,  Mr.  John  Fitzpatrick,  organizer  for  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor  and  President  of  the  Chicago  Feder- 
ation of  Labor,  in  a report  made  in  1916  to  the  latter 
body  formally  recommended  the  withdrawal  of  the  Chi- 
cago Teachers’  Federation  from  all  its  afSliations  with  or- 
ganized labor;  but  he  urged  the  passing  of  legislation,  then 
pending  in  the  legislature,  which  should  forbid  public  offi- 
cials from  discriminating  against  public  employes.  Had 
this  been  passed,  the  Loeb  rule  would  at  once  have  ceased 
to  exist. 

Both  the  men’s  and  the  women’s  locals  of  high  school 
teachers  remained  in  affiliation  with  labor,  and  have 
increased  their  membership. 

Meanwhile,  and  largely  through  the  influence  of  the 
Chicago  group,  there  had  been  formed  teachers’  locals  in 
many  different  cities,  locals  united  in  a national  organiza- 
tion, the  American  Federation  of  Teachers.  The  teachers 
of  the  New  York  schools,  and  the  Washington,  D.  C.,  high 
school  teachers  were  among  the  earliest  to  take  this  step. 
Teachers’  unions  exist  in  Paterson,  Buffalo,  Atlanta, 
Memphis,  St.  Paul,  Minneapolis,  Sacramento  and  Portland. 
They  have  often  been  able  to  obtain  increases  of  salaries, 
or  else  maintain  salary  schedules  in  face  of  threatened 
reduction.  It  must  be  realized  by  most  people  how  ex- 
tremely low  is  the  remuneration  of  teachers  almost  every- 
where outside  the  large  cities. 

The  affiliation  with  organized  labor  has  frequently 
enabled  organized  teachers  to  carry  out  their  ideals.  In 
this  way,  they  have  led  in  the  movement  for  bringing  about 
such  modern  improvements  as,  dividing  the  children  into 
smaller  classes,  and  saving  the  cultural  part  of  the  school 
program  from  being  swamped  by  the  advocates  of  voca- 
tional training,  and  in  general,  broadening  the  scope  of 
school  work.  Teachers  begin  to  realize  that  whatever  im- 


88  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


proves  working  conditions  for  every  one,  helps  directly  to 
improve  the  educational  work  done  for  and  by  the  children. 
The  union  movement  has  strengthened  in  teachers  the  sense 
of  our  public  educational  system  as  a social  function  of  the 
community,  rather  than  as  a group  of  jobs  sustained  by 
a budget,  and  directed  by  academic  captains. 

TELEPHONE  OPERATOES 

The  management  of  the  American  Telegraph  and  Tele- 
phone Company  sets  down  certain  policies  of  administration 
in  relation  to  operators,  but  in  a corporation  composed  of 
so  many  subsidiary  companies,  it  is  evident  that  there  must 
be  great  differences  of  practice  in  different  places.  There- 
fore, in  speaking  of  the  telephone  industry,  the  writer  is 
making  no  general  criticism  of  conditions,  either  in  the 
American  Telegraph  and  Telephone  Company,  and  its  sub- 
sidiary companies,  or  in  any  of  the  small,  independent  com- 
panies, but  is  describing  the  beginnings  of  unionism  among 
the  telephone  operators  themselves,  as  these  were  manifested 
at  the  time. 

The  organization  of  telephone  operators  dates  back  only 
to  1912,  when  twenty  telephone  operators,  employed  in  the 
toll  exchange  of  Boston  came  together  and  talked  over  the 
situation.  Wages  were  low,  overtime  a moot  point,  but 
the  chief  complaint  was  what  is  called  the  “split  trick,” 
that  is,  the  spreading  of  the  day’s  working  hours  over  a long 
period,  stretching  a day  nominally  about  eight  hours 
long  into  one  that  might  easily  extend  over  fourteen  hours. 
The  girl  might  go  on  duty  at  seven  o’clock  in  the  morning 
and  yet  her  work  might  not  end  until  nine  o’clock  at  night. 
She  had  time  off  in  the  afternoon,  when  it  was  of  little  use 
to  her,  as  she  often  traveled  backwards  and  forwards  a long 
distance  to  her  home,  and  exdra  carfare  might  come  out 


WOMEN  IN  MODERN  TRADE  UNIONS  89 

of  her  own  pocket.  With  the  aid  of  Miss  Mabel  Gillespie, 
of  the  Boston  Women’s  Trade  Union  League,  and  of  the 
late  Mr.  Peter  F.  Linehan,  general  organizer  of  the  Inter- 
national Brotherhood  of  Electrical  Workers,  they  formed  a 
sub-local  of  the  Boston  linemen’s  local. 

They  then  took  their  complaints  to  the  New  England 
Bell  Telephone  Company.  The  union  claims  that  the  eight 
and  a half  hour  day  was  then  established,  the  vacation 
period  extended  to  two  weeks,  the  use  of  the  split  trick 
greatly  lessened  and  carfare  allowed  in  all  cases,  and  over- 
time paid  time  and  a half.  Before  long  the  eight  hour  day 
was  in  force.  Another  point  the  Telephone  Operators 
Department  makes  is  that  one  of  the  significant  things  the 
union  accomplished  was  to  ensure  that  such  measures  as 
did  exist  for  the  benefit  of  the  employes  under  the  com- 
pany’s own  regulations  were  enforced. 

Under  the  influence  and  the  wise  counsel  of  Mr.  Linehan, 
the  girls  learnt  the  value  of  restraint  and  moderation  in 
their  negotiations  with  the  company,  and  recognition  was  at 
last  achieved.  When  a twelve  dollar  a week  wage  was  the 
main  point  at  issue  a strike  was  very  near,  the  company 
having  girls  from  a distance  housed,  some  even  at  the 
Copley-Plaza,  on  hand  to  take  the  place  of  the  regular 
operators.  The  settlement  was  finally  reached  between  the 
company  and  the  union  at  a conference  arranged  by  the 
Boston  Chamber  of  Commerce,  there  having  been  through- 
out no  interruption  of  service. 

New  England  has  been  the  only  part  of  the  country  to 
be  thoroughly  organized.  There  are  locals,  however,  in 
the  central  states  and  some  in  the  west. 

The  girls  have  gradually  risen  to  a recognized  status  in 
the  International  Brotherhood  of  Electrical  Workers,  after 
the  subject  had  been  brought  to  two  regular  conventions, 


90  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


and  at  one  special  convention  in  1918.  At  first  under  the 
constitution  of  the  international,  they  had  to  be  naembers 
of  a sub-local,  subsidiary  to  a men’s  local,  and  with  no 
power  of  self-government.  Afterwards  the  telephone  oper- 
ators were  formed  into  a department,  with  complete  self- 
government  and  control  of  their  own  finances.  The  Tele- 
phone Operators  Department  is  the  only  women’s  trade 
union  holding  its  own  national  convention. 

FKDEBAL  EMPLOYES 

The  National  Federation  of  Federal  Employes  was  char- 
tered by  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  in  1917,  follow- 
ing a convention  of  delegates  from  about  60  locals  in  various 
parts  of  the  United  States.  Local  No.  1 of  San  Francisco 
is  credited  as  the  first,  but  the  actual  beginning  of  what  is 
now  the  National  Federation  was  the  Women’s  Union  in 
the  Bureau  of  Engraving  and  Printing  which  was  chartered 
as  Federal  Employes’  Union  No.  12776,  by  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor  in  1909.  This  local  has  now  a mem- 
bership of  a little  under  2,000  of  women  engaged  upon 
fifteen  different  processes  in  the  making,  coimting,  sorting 
and  examining  of  paper  money,  stamps,  government  bonds, 
certificates,  etc.,  in  the  Bureau  of  Engraving  and  Printing, 
the  only  institution  of  its  kind  in  the  United  States. 

The  Federation  of  Federal  Employes  was  given  jurisdic- 
tion over  all  employes  of  the  United  States  Government 
except  those  exclusively  eligible  to  existing  national  or 
international  unions  affiliated  with  the  American  Federation 
of  Labor.  This  excludes  the  postal  ser\dce  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  Post  Office  Department  employes  in  Washington, 
as  distinguished  from  the  City  Post  Office  there,  and  it 
also  excludes  the  craft  organizations  having  members  in 


WOMEN  IN  MODERN  TRADE  UNIONS 


91 


government  service,  except  as  such  members  desire  to  carry- 
more  than  one  card. 

As  federal  employes  are  the  servants  of  the  United  States, 
the  final  resort  for  them  must  be  Congress,  as  the  agent 
of  the  people  of  the  United  States.  Hence  all  of  their 
demands  must  at  length  come  before  Congress,  and  their 
state  can  be  improved,  and  injustices  righted,  chiefly 
through  legislation. 

The  Federation  no-w  has  262  locals,  -with  membership  in 
every  state  and  in  all  the  territorial  possessions  of  the 
United  States. 

The  active  career  of  the  Federation  may  be  said  to  have 
begun  in  1917  when  Representative  Borland  of  Missouri 
introduced  an  amendment  to  an  appropriation  bill  lengthen- 
ing the  government  working  day  without  increasing  com- 
pensation. Up  till  then  government  employes  in  the 
District  of  Columbia  were  supposed  to  work  not  less  than 
seven  hours  a day,  but  might  be  asked  to  work,  and  in 
many  bureaus  they  did  work,  any  number  of  hours  over- 
time, without  further  remuneration.  This  bill  prescribed 
the  minimum  numbers  of  hours  to  be  worked  as  eight,  with 
no  relief  as  to  the  number  of  extra  hours  of  work  that 
might  be  put  in  for  the  same  pay.  Mr.  Borland  based 
his  arguments  upon  economy  of  tax  payers’  money.  He 
and  other  supporters  of  the  bill  tried  to  win  over  the  sym- 
pathy of  the  trade  unionists,  saying  that  the  object  of  the 
bill  was  only  to  obtain  for  civil  servants  the  same  hours 
as  other  working  men  had  to  put  in. 

The  issue  in  the  public  mind  was  thus  extremely  con- 
fusing. The  bill  was  known  popularly  but  misleadingly 
as  the  Civil  Ser-vice  Eight-Hour  bill.  As  an  eight-hour  law 
stands  in  the  public  mind  for  something  good  and  desirable, 
it  was  incomprehensible  that  civil  servants  and  the  labor 
leaders  supporting  them,  should  be  found  objecting  to  an 


92  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


eight-hour  day.  Opposition  was  set  down  to  the  natural 
indolence  of  unenterprising  and  irresponsible  government 
officials.  At  this  stage  the  employes  in  the  District  of 
Coliunbia  organized  and  by  distributing  information  regard- 
ing the  true  meaning  of  the  bill  and  by  arranging  hearings, 
succeeded  in  defeating  it. 

Among  the  women  members  of  the  Federation  are  to 
be  found  librarians,  nurses,  editors,  statisticians,  investi- 
gators in  social  economics,  doctors,  biologists,  and  various 
others  who  are  usually  classified  in  the  professional  occu- 
pations. The  largest  group  numerically  of  the  women  in 
the  organization  are  clerks,  stenographers,  typists  and  those 
in  the  industrial  establishments,  such  as  the  Bureau  of 
Engraving  and  Printing,  mail  equipment  shop,  fiag  making 
department  of  the  Navy  Yards,  etc.  There  are  also  a 
considerable  number  of  women  who  are  in  the  government 
institutions  as  matrons,  on  the  housekeeping  staff,  and  on 
the  teaching  staff ; and  in  the  prisons  there  are  women  who 
act  as  guards  and  supervisors  of  the  prison  work. 

The  late  Dr.  E.  B.  Rosa,  Physicist  of  the  Bureau  of 
Standards,  was  once  asked  “Why  should  a federal  employe 
join  the  union?”  This  was  his  reply: 

The  primary  purpose  of  the  Federal  Employes’  Union  is  to 
improve  conditions  in  the  government  service,  to  raise  the  stand- 
ard of  the  personnel,  to  increase  the  efficiency  of  administration, 
and  to  better  the  average  performance  of  the  government 
workers.  Every  employe  of  the  government  should  be  in  sjnn- 
pathy  with  these  aims,  and  should  be  willing  to  aid  by  joining  the 
union  and  doing  his  part  in  so  worthy  a cause.  In  helping  to 
make  the  government  service  more  efficient  and  more  attractive 
to  able  and  ambitious  men  and  women,  one  is  not  merely  stimu- 
lating and  helping  his  fellow  employes,  but  he  is  rendering  a per- 
manent service  to  the  government  itself. 


WOMEN  IN  MODERN  TRADE  UNIONS 


93 


ACTORS 

An  unusual  episode  in  recent  labor  history  was  the  strike 
of  stage  performers  of  1919.  The  organizations  involved 
were  the  Actors’  Equity  Association,  then  in  existence 
about  five  years,  and  the  Producing  Managers’  Association, 
which  included  a large  number  of  producers.  The  strike 
arose  out  of  the  affiliation  or  plans  for  affiliation  of  Equity 
with  the  American  Federation  of  Labor,  and  the  unwilling- 
ness of  the  managers  to  continue  to  recognize  the  Actors’ 
Association  under  these  changed  conditions. 

Strikes  of  garment  workers,  when  on  a large  scale,  are 
more  or  less  carried  on  in  the  public  eye,  through  picketing, 
police  activities,  and  court  prosecutions.  A street  car  strike 
brings  home  to  the  man  and  woman  in  the  street  that  an 
industrial  struggle  is  on.  In  the  one  case  public  interest 
often  fades  prematurely,  and  in  the  other  an  inconvenient 
situation  has  to  be  met  by  the  substitution  of  all  kinds 
of  primitive  modes  of  transportation;  but  to  the  public  an 
actors’  strike  for  the  most  part  meant  a unique  entertain- 
ment. It  might  be  serious  enough  to  both  sides  in  the 
dispute,  who  were  equally  losing  money.  A strike  initiated 
by  a mass  meeting  at  the  Hotel  Astor,  followed  a few  days 
later  by  the  closing  of  thirteen  New  York  theaters,  which 
remained  closed  for  a whole  month,  a strike  extending  from 
New  York  to  Boston,  Chicago  and  Philadelphia,  was  some- 
thing of  a novelty.  The  stars  of  the  profession  and  even  the 
actor-managers  were  divided,  but  many  of  the  most  promi- 
nent sided  with  the  striking  performers.  One  reason  why 
it  was  so  remarkable  was  that  theatrical  people  were  run- 
ning it.  The  publicit}/  organized  was  of  the  most  dramatic, 
not  to  say  sensational  sort,  so  that  interest  was  kept  alive. 
One  plan  in  New  York,  was  the  giving  of  performances  in 
the  Lexington  Opera  House,  one  of  the  largest  metropolitan 


94  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


houses.  Besides  providing  nightly  a first  class  performance 
with  such  actresses  as  Ethel  Barrymore  in  serious  parts 
and  Marie  Dressier  in  vaudeville,  it  was  the  custom  to 
have  a speech  or  two.  The  stars  gave  their  services,  and 
it  was  through  such  support  that  the  chorus  girls  were 
helped  to  tide  over  their  weeks  out  of  work.  Nothing  was 
more  remarkable  than  the  intense  activity  of  the  entire 
profession.  There  was  no  actor  of  prominence  that  was 
not  involved  on  one  side  or  the  other.  Samuel  Gompers 
addressed  a mass  meeting  of  actors  and  actresses,  pledging 
them  the  backing  of  organized  labor.  While  all  this  was 
going  on,  other  large  meetings  of  protest  were  being  held 
nightly  at  the  Hotel  Biltmore.  The  stars  numbered  among 
the  directors  of  the  Fidelity  League,  the  rival  actors  asso- 
ciation, were  leaders  and  speakers  at  these  meetings.  The 
end  came  as  suddenly  as  the  beginning.  Managers  and 
actors  came  to  terms,  and  on  September  6th  an  agreement 
was  signed,  to  run  for  four  years. 

Simultaneously  the  chorus  girls  formed  an  organization, 
which,  it  is  claimed,  has  brought  about  many  improve- 
ments in  their  lot,  notably,  that  they  no  longer  have  to 
provide  the  expensive  shoes,  stockings,  hats  and  wigs  neces- 
sary to  their  roles,  nor  have  they  to  attend  an  xmlimited 
number  of  rehearsals  without  payment. 

I LOCAL  L.ABOR  "UNIONS 

Where  there  is  no  international  union  in  a trade,  there 
are,  nevertheless,  scattered  all  over  the  country,  in  the  large 
industrial  centers,  and  in  small  towns,  numbers  of  local 
unions  chartered  directly  by  the  A.  F.  of  L.  klany  of  these 
have  women  members;  several  none  but  women.  Among 
organizations  with  women  members  are  button  workers, 
court  reporters,  crab  pickers,  domestic  workers,  envelop 


WOMEN  IN  MODERN  TRADE  UNIONS 


95 


makers,  feather  and  flower  workers,  gold  leaf  cutters,  hair 
dressers,  hair  spinners,  hat  trimmers,  hospital  nurses  and 
attendants,  mimicipal  employes,  neckwear  workers,  office 
employes,  park  employes,  scientific  laboratory  workers, 
suspender  workers,  theatrical  wardrobe  attendants,  and 
wire  sewers,  besides  a number  of  general  federal  labor 
unions  in  small  places,  which  admit  wage-earners  in  dif-  ^ 
ferent  trades  into  a common  group. 

■WOMEN  LABOR  LEADERS  AND  ORGANIZERS 

In  1908,  Miss  Anna  Fitzgerald,  of  the  Upholsterers’  Union 
and  President  of  the  International  Women’s  Label  League 
was  appointed  general  woman  organizer  for  the  American 
Federation  of  Labor  and  served  for  six  months.  This 
action  came  principally  as  the  result  of  a request  made 
at  interstate  conferences  of  the  National  Women’s  Trade 
Union  League,  held  simultaneously  in  Boston,  New  York 
and  Chicago. 

From  1908  up  to  the  present,  thirty-eight  women  have 
acted  as  organizers  under  the  American  Federation  of 
Labor;  many  of  them  for  short  periods,  a few  weeks  or 
months,  to  meet  an  emergency,  or  a special  organizing 
drive,  their  services  being  contributed  to  one  of  the  inter- 
national or  local  unions,  to  aid  in  strengthening  labor 
organization  in  that  trade.  Miss  Mary  Kelleher  was  in 
the  field  for  over  six  years;  Miss  Melinda  Scott  for  four 
years,  while  Miss  Anna  Neary,  who  began  to  serve  in 
1917,  was  still  organizing  in  1923.  That  there  was  but  one 
general  organizer  at  that  time  is  partly  to  be  accounted  for 
by  the  period  of  extreme  depression  and  consequent  un- 
employment under  which  the  labor  movement  had  had  to 
struggle.  One  of  the  most  unfortunate  consequences  of 
long  continued  unemployment  is  the  loss  of  membership 


96  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


that  follows,  through  absolute  inability  to  pay  dues.  The 
local  union  is  the  first  to  feel  the  effects;  next  the  inter- 
national, and  finally  the  American  Federation  of  Labor 
itself.  Under  these  circumstances,  every  organization  had 
been  compelled  to  economize  and  cut  down  its  staff  of 
organizers,  and  it  is  therefore  not  remarkable  that  women, 
who  had  been  the  latest  officers  to  be  engaged,  were  often 
the  first  whose  services  were  dispensed  with.  Of  recent 
years  many  women  have  worked  as  regular  organizers  in 
their  own  trades,  and  a number  are  still  so  engaged. 

Among  the  international  organizations,  widely  contrasted 
as  they  are  in  type,  some  with  a large  membership  and 
others  still  small  and  struggling,  there  are  active  and 
energetic  women  leaders  who  have  held  or  still  hold  of- 
ficial positions  in  international  organizations. 

The  few  names  that  follow  are  not  chosen  with  any 
intention  of  classifying  and  appraising  the  women  labor 
leaders  of  the  day,  nor  has  the  list  any  claim  to  be  com- 
plete, or  it  would  be  far  longer.  As  one  national  official 
remarks  of  his  ovm  union,  some  of  the  brightest,  most 
active  and  influential  girls,  women  displaying  high  talents 
for  leadership,  have  exercised  their  talents,  and  have 
achieved  success  solely  in  their  own  localities,  many  of 
them  perhaps  never  even  coming  under  the  notice  of  the 
heads  of  their  organizations.  But  the  fact  at  least  is  worth 
noting  that  in  several  trade  unions  women  have  been  able  to 
forge  ahead  to  positions  where  they  can  influence  the 
national  councils  of  the  union  and  represent  its  policies 
in  the  field. 

The  first  woman  to  hold  an  executive  position  in  any 
international  union  was  Augusta  Lewis  (New  York),  who 
was  elected  corresponding  secretary  of  the  International 
Typographical  Union  in  1870.  The  men  mention  with 
pride  that  she  was  a woman  of  ability,  and  did  credit  to 


WOMEN  IN  MODERN  TRADE  UNIONS  97 

the  office.;  she  has  had,  however,  no  successor  of  her 
own  sex.  Ellen  Lindstrom  (Chicago),  was  in  1901  elected 
member  of  the  General  Executive  Board  of  the  Special 
Order  Clothing  Workers.  When  in  1902  that  organization 
amalgamated  with  the  United  Garment  Workers  of  Amer- 
ica, Miss  Lindstrom  was  re-elected  to  the  Board  for  an- 
other year.  Other  women  of  the  Board  of  the  U.  G.  W.  A. 
have  been  Lillian  Fredericks  (Indianapolis),  Margaret 
Daley  (Coney  Island,  N.  Y.)  and  Mrs.  Edith  Souter  Metz 
and  Mrs.  Daisy  Houck,  both  of  Los  Angeles.  The  first 
woman  general  organizer  for  any  international  union  was 
Emma  Lamphere,  Retail  Clerk  (1904). 

Mrs.  Sara  Conboy  (Boston)  has  been  since  her  election 
in  1915  Secretary-Treasurer  of  the  Textile  Workers. 

The  Boot  and  Shoe  Workers’  Union,  of  whom  about 
thirty  per  cent  of  the  members  are  women,  have  always 
one  woman  on  the  Board.  Those  who  have  been  elected 
are  Mary  A.  Nason,  Emma  Steghagen,  Mary  Anderson  and 
Clara  Katzor. 

Elizabeth  Maloney,  waitress  (Chicago),  was  from  1914 
until  her  death  in  1921  a very  active  member  of  the 
Executive  Board  of  the  Hotel  and  Restaurant  Employes. 
Her  place  was  taken  by  Kitty  Donnelly  (Cleveland). 
Miss  Mary  McEnerney,  bookbinder  (Chicago),  was  on 
the  Executive  Board  of  the  International  Brotherhood  of 
Bookbinders. 

Now  (1923),  Julia  O’Connor  is  President  of  the  Tele- 
phone Operators’  Department  of  the  International  Brother- 
hood of  Electrical  Workers.  Fannia  Cohn  is  one  of  the 
Vice-Presidents  of  the  International  Ladies’  Garment 
Workers  and  Secretary  of  the  Educational  Department. 

Agn^  Nestor  has  been  both  President  and  Secretary- 
Treasurer  of  the  International  Glove  Workers  Union,  and 


98  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


Elisabeth  Christman  has  been  Secretary-Treasurer  for  some 
years. 

Women  are  also  on  other  boards.  Mary  E.  Meehan, 
Anna  Neary  and  Augusta  J.  Frincke,  International  Brother- 
hood of  Bookbinders;  Mary  E.  Moran,  Laundry  Workers 
International  Union;  Ethel  E.  Tulloch,  National  Union 
of  Postoffice  Clerks;  Helen  Cahill  and  Nora  Long,  Up- 
holsterers. 

Agnes  Johnson  is  organizer  for  the  Boot  and  Shoe 
Workers,  and  Mary  Dempsey  till  recently,  for  the  Hotel 
and  Restaurant  Employes. 

Mamie  Santora  (Baltimore)  is  on  the  General  Executive 
Board  of  the  Amalgamated  Clothing  Workers  of  America. 

The  National  Women’s  Trade  Union  League  Conven- 
tion in  1917,  and  again  in  1919,  asked  the  American  Fed- 
eration of  Labor  and  all  of  its  constituent  bodies  to  guar- 
antee to  women  workers  adequate  representation  by  wo- 
men responsible  to  their  organizations  on  all  policy  mak- 
ing councils,  bureaus,  boards  or  committees  that  deal  with 
conditions  of  employment  or  standards  of  life.  Especially 
do  women  trade  unionists  desire  representation  upon  the 
Executive  Council  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor 
itself.  The  Council  consists  of  the  officers  and  eight  vice- 
presidents,  belonging  to  different  international  unions,  but 
all  men,  with  no  possible  chink  in  sight  through  which  a 
w'oman  could  unobserved  creep  into  a seat. 

Trade  union  women  consider  that  on  the  whole  they 
are  at  a disadvantage  in  being  granted  but  limited  oppor- 
tunities for  holding  positions  of  responsibility.  At  the 
St.  Paul  Convention  of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor 
in  1918,  the  women  delegates  brought  in  an  amendment 
to  the  constitution  increasing  the  number  of  vice-presi- 
dents to  ten,  with  the  additional  proviso  that  at  least 
two  members  of  the  entire  council  should  be  women. 


WOMEN  IN  MODERN  TRADE  UNIONS  9<) 

This  was  countered  by  the  argument  that  to  ask  for  two 
women  representatives  was  essentially  undemocratic. 
“Why,”  said  some,  “women  can  fill  any  or  all  of  the  seats 
now  if  the  delegates  choose  to  elect  them.”  The  women 
not  unnaturally  felt  that  two  birds  in  the  hand  would  be 
worth  many  in  the  bush.  The  amendment  passed  into  the 
charge  of  the  Constitution  Committee,  who  reported  non- 
concurrence. The  Convention  adopted  the  report  and  the 
incident  was  closed — for  the  time. 

There  is  another  matter  which  the  women  persist  in 
bringing  to  the  attention  of  the  American  Federation  of 
Labor,  and  that  is  the  refusal  of  some  organizations  to 
take  in  women  members. 

The  principle  of  autonomy  for  the  different  organized 
trades  on  which  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  is  based, 
has  other  by-results  besides  self-government  and  self-con- 
trol for  the  member  organizations  in  the  management  of 
their  own  affairs.  One  of  these  is  seen  in  the  difficulty  the 
Federation  sometimes  experiences  in  putting  into  practice 
its  own  principles  of  unity  in  the  labor  movement,  without 
regard  to  race,  color  or  sex. 

There  are  certain  of  the  international  organizations  which 
set  up  bars  against  admission  to  membership,  even  al- 
though the  applicant  is  actually  working  at  the  trade. 

The  United  Brotherhood  of  Carpenters  and  Joiners,  the 
Journeyman  Barbers’  International  Union,  and  the  Inter- 
national Holders’  Union  absolutely  refuse  to  admit  women, 
closing  their  eyes  to  the  fact  that  women  are  undercutting 
men  in  the  furniture  factories,  where  they  can  be  hired 
for  lower  wages  than  men;  that  women  are  helping  to 
disorganize  the  hairdresser’s  occupation,  when  against  their 
will  they  are  compelled  to  remain  outside  the  organiza- 
tion, with  the  standard  conditions  that  regulate  the  union 
barber’s  shop,  and  that  women  core  makers  in  foundries 


100  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


ought  to  have  union  protection  and  be  working  on  union 
terms. 

The  men’s  arguments  are  of  the  most  plausible  char- 
acter. Their  particular  job  is  always  “unfit  for  women.” 
A pressman  once  seriously  argued  that  feeding  is  not  work 
for  a girl,  and  nearly  collapsed  when  overalls  were  sug- 
gested as  attire  sufficiently  modest  to  meet  any  contingency 
of  the  press-room.  (That  was  in  pre-war  days,  but  his 
tribe  are  to  be  met  in  almost  every  workshop  in  a number 
of  trades.)  The  teamsters  will  not  agree  to  admit  a woman, 
even  though  she  be  driving  a jitney  and  competing  for  fares 
with  the  chauffeur  carrying  his  union  card. 

The  hopeful  aspect  for  the  future  lies  in  inconsistency  of 
practice.  Take  the  Metal  Trades.  The  International 
Holders’  Union  have  in  the  constitution  a clause  under 
which  “Any  member,  honorary  or  active,  who’  devotes  his 
time  in  whole  or  in  part  to  the  instruction  of  female  help 
in  the  foundry,  or  in  any  branch  of  the  trade,  shall  be 
expelled  from  the  union.”  The  International  Metal  Polish- 
ers’ Union,  while  earnestly  discouraging  women  from  en- 
tering the  trade,  on  the  ground  of  the  danger  of  con- 
tracting tuberculosis,  through  inhaling  the  flying  metallic 
or  emery  dust,  admits  women  to  full  membership,  and  in- 
sists on  equal  pay  for  all  women  employed  in  a union 
shop.  This  holds  everywhere,  except  in  the  state  of  New 
^York.  The  International  Brotherhood  of  Foundry  Em- 
ployes, on  the  other  hand,  admit  women,  and  during  the 
war,  at  least,  had  a number  of  women  members  in  different 
parts  of  the  country.  The  Amalgamated  Sheet  INIetal 
Workers’  International  Alliance  and  the  International  As- 
sociation of  Machinists  both  admit  women,  although  on 
a reduced  dues  and  benefit  basis.  Even  although  the  war 
broke  down  many  vocational  barriers.  Article  IX,  Section 
1 of  the  constitution,  “Any  boy  engaging  himself  to  learn 


WOMEN  IN  MODERN  TRADE  UNIONS  101 


the  trade  of  a machinist  must  serve  four  years”  probably 
throws  insuperable  difficulties  in  the  way  of  women  becom- 
ing highly  skilled,  all-round  machinists. 

If  from  metal  we  turn  to  wood,  while  the  United  Brother- 
hood of  Carpenters  and  Joiners  do  not  admit  women  in 
their  order,  there  is  the  International  Union  of  Timber 
Workers,  a small  organization  which  holds  all  female  work- 
ers in  the  timber  industry  eligible  to  membership,  and  in 
wartime  reported  having  several  thousand  members. 

Here  are  national  organizations,  employed  in  practically 
one  industry,  handling  the  question  in  very  different  ways. 
Which  is  the  right  solution?  Which  will  be  the  perma- 
nent one? 

One  way  of  partly  overcoming  the  difficulty  is  for  the 
American  Federation  of  Labor  to  exercise  its  undoubted 
right  to  live  up  to  its  own  principles  of  shutting  out  from 
the  labor  movement  no  one  on  account  of  color,  sex,  nation- 
ality or  creed.  The  Federation  has  large  jurisdictional 
powers.  It  can  ignore  the  recalcitrant  internationals,  and 
issue  federal  charters  to  locals  of  women,  thus  bringing 
them  within  the  labor  movement,  giving  them  its  protection, 
and  taking  away  any  excuse  for  being  undercutters  or 
strike-breakers.  This  plan  would  not  interfere  with  trade 
autonomy,  and  yet  it  would  go  some  distance  towards 
abolishing  a situation  full  of  danger  to  all  workers,  and 
most  humiliating  to  women.  i 

Owing  to  the  influence  of  a group  of  women  outside  the 
labor  movement,  and  as  a result  of  their  desire  that  justice 
should  be  done  to  women,  the  subject  was  brought  before 
the  A.  F.  of  L.  Convention  in  Denver,  in  1921,  being  in- 
troduced by  Delegate  Ethel  Haig,  tobacco-worker.  Her 
request  took  the  form  of  an  amendment  to  the  constitution, 
but  all  that  involved  was  this  same  question  of  granting 
separate  federal  charters.  The  resolution  was  decently 


102  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


buried  under  the  folds  of  a substitute  resolution  calling 
upon  those  national  and  international  organizations  that  do 
not  admit  women  workers  to  “give  early  consideration  for 
such  admission.” 

A few  days  only  before  these  happenings,  the  Executive 
Board  of  the  National  Woman’s  Trade  Union  League, 
meeting  in  Waukegan,  Illinois,  appointed  a committee  to 
confer  with  the  Executive  Council  of  the  American  Fed- 
eration of  Labor  with  reference  to  the  issue  of  charters 
to  groups  of  women  not  admitted  to  membership  in  the 
international  unions  of  their  trade.  The  Committee  met 
with  the  Council  in  Atlantic  City  on  August  23,  1921. 

The  Committee  when  it  met  with  the  Council  asked  if 
the  A.  F.  of  L.  did  not  in  fact  determine  the  jurisdictional 
lines  when  national  charters  were  issued,  and  if  it  did 
not  subsequently  adjust  jurisdictional  disputes,  even  to 
the  extent  of  carving  out  new  jurisdictions.  This  was  done 
in  the  case  of  the  ordnance  men  who  were  taken  out  of 
the  National  Federation  of  Federal  Employes,  and  given 
a local  charter.  One  of  the  cases  troubling  the  women  at 
present  is  that  of  copy-holders  who  work  in  union  printing 
offices,  and  yet,  unless  they  have  served  the  regular  printer’s 
apprenticeship,  are  not  eligible  to  admission  into  the  Inter- 
national Typographical  Union. 

The  case  of  colored  workers  was  brought  up,  but  the 
Council  refused  to  take  as  a precedent  affecting  the  women’s 
status  the  action  of  the  Montreal  Convention.  On  that 
' occasion  the  Convention  did  agree  to  issue  separate  charters 
to  colored  locals  in  trades  where  the  international,  after 
having  been  applied  to,  refused  to  take  them  in. 

The  discussion  closed  on  the  understanding  that  there 
would  be  further  negotiation  with  the  Council,  and  Mr. 
Gompers  suggested  conferences  with  those  international 
bodies  which  still  exclude  women. 


WOMEN  IN  MODERN  TRADE  UNIONS  103 


At  the  Convention  of  the  Federation  in  1922  in  Cincin- 
nati, the  subject  again  came  up,  at  the  instance  of  the  fra- 
ternal delegate  of  the  National  Women’s  Trade  Union 
League,  Mrs.  Mary  V.  Halas.  The  decision  of  the  con- 
vention, which  was  unanimous,  was  that  where  women 
are  refused  admission  by  the  international  of  their  trade, 
the  Executive  Council  of  the  A.  F.  of  L.  shall  take  up  the 
subject  with  the  trade  unions  involved,  and  endeavor  to 
reach  an  understanding  as  to  issuance  of  federal  charters. 

The  labor  movement  is  being  strengthened  by  the  un- 
precedented activity  taking  place  among  the  workingmen’s 
wives.  This  is  seen  in  the  rapid  growth  of  women’s  auxil- 
iaries and  their  enlarged  program  of  work.  For  many  years 
a number  of  the  national  organizations,  such  as  the  Letter 
Carriers,  the  Machinists,  the  Milk  Wagon  Drivers,  the 
Post  Office  Clerks,  the  Railway  Mail  Clerks  and  the 
Switchmen  have  had  national  women’s  auxiliaries.  The 
size  of  the  membership,  the  number  of  lodges  or  locals,  and 
the  activities  carried  on  have  varied  widely  from  time  to 
time.  The  care  of  sick  or  stranded  men,  the  maintenance 
of  social  family  relations  between  the  members,  holding 
meetings  or  entertainments  to  stimulate  the  life  of  the 
main  organization  and  pride  in  its  achievements,  were 
among  their  duties.  Especially  at  convention  time  in  a 
convention  city  the  women’s  auxiliary  might  be  expected 
to  come  to  the  front.  Beside  the  national  bodies,  women’s 
auxiliaries  have  sprung  up  locally. 

During  the  last  few  years  there  has  been  a rebirth  of 
the  spirit  in  which  such  organizations  originated.  Locally 
this  has  shown  itself  in  the  numberless  women’s  auxiliaries 
organized  in  connection  with  the  miners  and  railway  men’s 
strikes  and  lock-outs.  These  bodies  have  been  of  the  new 
type,  formed  primarily  to  strengthen  the  union.  In  one 
bakers’  strike  the  women  picketed  where  the  men  were 


104  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


absolutely  prevented  from  doing  so.  In  the  strike  of  the 
Boston  City  Police,  the  large  meetings  held  by  the  women 
were  among  the  most  effective  means  of  reaching  the 
public.  Such  activities  as  these  mean  the  education  of  the 
women,  and  the  enlisting  of  their  intelligent  co-operation 
by  the  union  officers.  Home-keeping  women  are  working 
also  on  the  lines  of  more  formal  education,  a women’s 
auxiliary  being  an  active  supporter  of  classes  in  connection 
with  one  of  the  trade  union  colleges. 

It  was  the  National  Women’s  Auxiliary  of  the  Post-Office 
Clerks  which  was  able  to  break  through  the  administrative 
barriers  which  for  so  long  prevented  the  postal  employes 
from  having  their  salaries  re-classified  by  Congress,  by 
bringing  the  many  unfavorable  discriminations  against 
these  Government  employes,  previously  unknown,  as  well  as 
the  insanitary  conditions  under  which  many  of  them  worked, 
before  the  public,  and  at  length  before  Congress.  The 
women’s  success  in  connection  with  all  these  matters  has 
been  very  remarkable. 

Women  have  always  voluntarily  and  involvmtarily  played 
an  indispensable  part  in  the  general  labor  movement,  and 
in  backing  labor  policies,  as  directed  and  carried  out  by 
men,  for  men’s  organizations.  In  every  strike  and  lockout, 
in  every  wage  cut,  it  is  the  woman  at  home  who  pays  a 
large  proportion  of  the  price,  in  an  empty  coal-box,  a short- 
age of  milk  for  the  baby,  of  clothes  and  of  shoes  for  the 
children  and  herself.  If  there  is  an  eviction,  it  is  not  the 
man  alone  that  is  turned  out  into  the  street.  If  she  under- 
stands the  cause  of  the  struggle,  the  principle  that  is  fought 
for,  the  woman  will  be  a far  more  valuable  helper. 

There  is  another  side  to  this  question.  If  the  woman  at 
home  has  to  pay  so  dearly,  and  if  not  only  submission  and 
endurance,  but  sympathy  and  active  co-operation  are  ex- 
pected of  her,  then  why  not  grant  her  a say  in  the  calling 


WOMEN  IN  MODERN  TRADE  UNIONS  105 


of  the  strike,  in  its  settlement  or  in  its  calling-off?  The 
women’s  auxiliaries  seem  to  offer  a way  to  reach  the  women 
for  just  such  expression  of  opinion.  As  long  as  the  home 
women  are  related  to  the  labor  movement  only  through 
their  personal  relation  to  husband,  brother  or  son,  the  con- 
nection must  often  be  a loose  and  temporary  one.  If  the 
women  relatives  of  the  men  in  every  local  union  had  an 
actively  functioning  auxiliary  it  would  be  possible,  and 
even  be  easy  for  the  men  to  consult  and  advise  with  the 
women  most  closely  concerned.  This  method  would  also 
give  to  the  women  the  tardy  justice  of  a vote  upon  decisions 
which  so  intimately  touch  themselves.  The  union  man’s 
wife  would  not  longer  be  in  the  position  which  she  holds 
today  of  being  able  to  vote  on  a political  issue  while  she 
is  denied  a vote  on  industrial  and  economic  issues. 


Chapteb  VI 


A NEW  DEVELOPMENT  IN  ORGANIZATION— THE 
WOMEN’S  TRADE  UNION  LEAGUE 

After  the  Civil  War  there  came  the  period  of  reconstruc- 
tion, and  after  that  an  awakening  of  the  social  conscience, 
manifested  in  many  ways.  There  was  the  establishment  of 
state  care  for  the  insane,  the  blind,  and  the  poor  to  replace 
voluntary  organization.  There  were  the  tenement  house 
investigations,  the  social  settlement  movement,  the  eight 
hour  movement.  Miss  Grace  Dodge’s  work  in  forming 
working  women’s  clubs  had  its  influence.  In  the  political 
field  was  the  populist  movement,  the  activities  of  the 
Socialist  Party  and  the  propaganda  of  the  single  taxers. 

All  these  efforts  were  influenced  by  the  working  class 
movement  and  every  form  of  social  advance  on  the  other 
hand  helped  to  release  the  workers’  energies.  In  the  early 
nineties  amid  the  often  disheartening  struggles  of  both 
international  and  local  unions,  there  was  a widespread  sense 
of  unrest  with  a background  of  keen  dissatisfaction  among 
the  intelligent  workers  herded  in  sweatshops  and  crowding 
the  poorer  districts  of  all  large  cities.  Here  and  there  were 
the  signs  of  struggle  and  of  effort  towards  a coming 
together.  Some  fine  spirited  women,  not  of  the  exploited 
class,  began  to  associate  themselves  with  the  women  work- 
ers to  strengthen  their  cause.  In  New  York,  Boston  and 
Chicago,  w'e  find  the  women  workers  allied  with  other 
women  sympathetic  with  labor  and  thus  encouraged  to 
concerted  effort. 


106 


THE  WOMEN’S  TRADE  UNION  LEAGUE  107 


In  New  York,  Boston  and  Chicago,  women  of  the  type 
of  Josephine  Shaw  Lowell,  Lillian  Wald,  Mrs.  Mary  Mor- 
ton Kehew  and  Jane  Addams,  were  bringing  a new  spirit 
into  our  city  life.  Through  knowledge  gained  of  city  and 
community  evils  they  were  learning  of  the  many  injustices 
that  were  perpetrated  upon  the  worker,  upon  the  immigrant, 
upon  the  colored  race  and  upon  the  woman,  especially  the 
young  girl.  These  girl  workers  were  many  of  them  so 
young  that  they  ought  to  have  been  covered  by  child  labor 
laws,  child  labor  laws  that  did  not  then  exist.  Women 
therefore  came  forward  to  see  what,  if  any,  contribution 
they  could  make  towards  filling  up  a gap  in  the  labor 
movement. 

In  1892,  Miss  Mary  Kenney,  a young  bookbinder  (now 
Mrs.  Mary  Kenney  O’Sullivan),  it  will  be  recalled,  was 
organizing  for  the  American  Federation  of  Labor. 

In  Chicago  she  discovered  in  Mrs.  Charles  Henrotin  an 
early  and  loyal  friend  in  the  struggle  for  the  industrial 
betterment  of  the  downtrodden  working  women.  Hull 
House  threw  open  its  rooms  for  meetings  held  in  the  un- 
popular cause  of  bringing  working  women  together,  and 
enrolling  them  in  trade  unions.  Shortly  after  a women’s 
Federal  Labor  Union  was  formed.  Active  in  this  agitation 
were  Mrs.  Fannie  Kavanagh  Stanton,  Miss  Lizzie  Ford, 
Mrs.  T.  J.  Morgan,  Mrs.  Frank  J.  Pearson,  Mrs.  Robert 
Howe,  Dr.  Fannie  Dickinson,  Mrs.  Florence  Kelley  and 
Mrs.  Corinne  Brown. 

The  effect  of  training  in  the  Knights  of  Labor  was  seen 
here,  for  Mrs.  Alzina  P.  Stevens,  originally  a textile  worker, 
Mrs.  George  Rodgers  and  Miss  Emma  Steghagen,  boot  and 
shoe  worker,  who  had  all  three  been  members  of  the 
Knights  of  Labor,  brought  their  experience  to  the  aid  of 
the  girls  who  were  forming  local  unions.  Among  this  group 
also  Miss  Kenney  was  a leader.  She  not  only  reached  girls 


108  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


in  her  own  trade  (bookbinding)  but  garment  workers  and 
shoe  workers  and  others,  including  numbers  of  men. 

Mr.  Gompers  then  sent  Miss  Kenney  to  the  East.  When 
in  Boston,  Miss  Hannah  Kimball,  and  later  her  sister, 
Mrs.  Mary  M.  Kehew,  encouraged  to  the  utmost  her  efforts 
to  organize  women  into  trade  unions.  The  first  thing  she 
did  was  to  form  a big  club,  called  the  Union  of  Industrial 
Progress.  Their  musical  evenings  were  made  stirring  with 
labor  songs. 

Mary  Kenney  with  her  witching  Irish  personality 
gathered  the  girls  together  for  social  evenings  with  dancing, 
music  and  games  as  the  attraction,  and  little  talks  on  in- 
dustrial matters  tactfully  sandwiched  in. 

The  great  difficulty  Miss  Kenney  and  others  experienced 
was  that  it  was  almost  impossible  to  make  anyone,  even 
working  women,  understand  what  was  meant,  for  they  did 
not  realize  that  women  were  within  the  scope  of  the  labor 
movement. 

In  Boston  a Federal  Labor  Union  used  to  meet  at  Deni- 
son House,  the  college  settlement.  The  union  had  been 
organized  by  John  F.  O’Sullivan,  and  was  regularly  affili- 
ated with  the  American  Federation  of  Labor,  and  even  sent 
George  E.  McNeil  as  its  delegate  to  one  A.  F.  of  L.  con- 
vention. Its  membership  was  not  confined  to  working 
women.  The  union  took  in  such  women  as  Mary  Morton 
Kehew,  Emily  Balch,  Vida  Scudder,  Helen  Dudley,  Han- 
nah P.  Kimball,  Rose  Lamb,  and  Anne  Withington,  names 
always  associated  with  labor’s  struggles.  There  were  many 
unhappy  adventures  with  strikes,  for  the  women  were 
almost  wholly  unorganized. 

The  union  took  part  also  in  forwarding  the  labor  legis- 
lation of  that  day.  At  that  time  there  would  be  only  two 
or  three  persons  at  a labor  legislation  hearing,  while  today 
the  hearings  are  packed.  John  F.  O’Sullivan  was  in  many 


THE  WOMEN’S  TRADE  UNION  LEAGUE  109 


ways  a remarkable  man.  He  had  the  most  profoimd  belief 
in  women  and  the  little  Federal  Labor  Union  was  his  pride 
and  joy. 

It  was  in  this  environment  somewhat  later  that  the 
National  Women’s  Trade  Union  League  had  its  beginnings. 
The  League  traces  its  origin,  however,  to  the  year  1873, 
when  Mrs.  Emma  Paterson,  an  Englishwoman,  was  visiting 
New  York.  She  was  the  daughter  of  a schoolmaster  and 
the  wife  of  a cabinet  maker,  himself  a trade  unionist. 
While  in  New  York  she  saw  and  was  impressed  by  the 
activities  of  certain  local  organizations  managed  by  women, 
such  as  the  Parasol  and  Umbrella  Makers’  Union,  the 
Women’s  Typographical  Union,  and  the  Working  Women’s 
Protective  Union.  On  her  return  to  England  Mrs.  Pater- 
son and  some  of  her  friends  organized  the  Women’s  Pro- 
tective and  Provident  League.  It  was  not  until  later  that 
the  name  British  Women’s  Trade  Union  League  was 
adopted.  The  object  was  to  aid  in  organizing  women  into 
trade  unions,  and  it  drew  support  both  from  men’s  trade 
imions  and  from  thoughtful  women  who  were  not  them- 
selves workers.  Although  this  League  was  founded  in  1874, 
there  was  nothing  known  about  it  in  the  United  States  till 
about  1903.  The  pioneer  activities  of  the  Englishwomen 
were  observed  by  Mr.  William  English  Walling  when  he 
was  paying  a visit  to  England.  Mr.  Walling  spoke  to  Mrs. 
O’Sullivan.  At  a little  Boston  downtown  restaurant  they 
talked  over  the  possibilities  of  forming  such  an  organization 
here,  having  asked  in  Mrs.  Kehew  and  Miss  Emily  Balch 
to  help.  A meeting  was  arranged,  Mr.  Walling  taking  the 
lead.  At  the  American  Federation  of  Labor  Convention 
just  being  held  in  Boston,  Mr.  Gompers  gave  Mrs.  O’Sul- 
livan permission  to  announce  the  meeting  from  the  plat- 
form. Mr.  Walling  and  Mrs.  O’Sullivan  sent  telegrams  to 
Jane  Addams,  Mary  McDowell  and  Lillian  Wald,  asking 


no  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


them  to  act  on  the  Executive  Board  of  the  new  organiza- 
tion. The  result  has  already  been  related  in  “The  Trade 
Union  Woman.” 

A meeting  of  those  interested  was  called  in  Faneuil  Hall  on 
November  14,  1903.  Mr.  John  O’Brien,  President  of  the  Retail 
Clerks’  International  Protective  Union,  presided.  Among  the 
trades  represented  were  the  Ladies’  Garment  Workers,  the  United 
Garment  Workers,  the  Amalgamated  Meat  Cutters  and  Butcher 
Workmen,  Retail  Clerks,  Shoe  Workers,  and  Textile  Workers. 
The  National  Women’s  Trade  Union  League  was  organized  and 
the  following  officials  elected;  President,  Mrs.  Mary  Morton 
Kehew,  Boston;  Vice-President,  Miss  Jane  Addams,  Chicago; 
Secretary,  Mrs.  Mary  Kenney  O’SuUivan,  Boston;  Treasurer, 
Miss  Mary  Donovan,  Boot  and  Shoe  Workers;  members.  Miss  M. 
McDowell,  Chicago,  Miss  Lillian  D.  Wald,  New  York;  I^Iiss  Ellen 
Lindstrom,  United  Garment  Workers,  Miss  Mary  Freitas,  Textile 
Workers,  and  Miss  Leonora  O’Reilly,  Ladies’  Garment  Workers. 

Prominent  trade  unionists  active  in  these  forward  steps 
were  Mr.  Max  Morris,  (Retail  Clerks)  a Vice-President 
of  the  American  Federation  of  Labor,  John  Tobin,  President 
of  the  Boot  and  Shoe  Workers,  James  Tansey,  President  of 
the  United  Textile  Workers,  RaTvy  White,  President  of  the 
United  Garment  Workers,  and  Michael  Donnelly,  President 
of  the  Amalgamated  Meat  Cutters  and  Butcher  Workmen. 
The  British  fraternal  delegates  to  the  A.  F.  of  L.  Conven- 
tion bore  witness  to  the  effective  work  already  accomplished 
by  the  British  Women’s  Trade  Union  League. 

The  following  year  branches  were  established  in  New 
York,  Boston  and  Chicago.  Gertrude  Barnum,  as  first 
national  organizer  did  effective  work  first  in  Massachu- 
setts, (where  the  Fall  River  strike  hit  the  textile  workers 
very  hard),  by  making  the  facts  known  through  the  daily 
press  of  the  country.  In  the  same  way  she  aided  in  the 
Troy  Laundry  Workers’  strike,  as  well  as  in  the  lock-out 
of  the  corset  workers  of  Aurora,  Illinois. 


THE  WOMEN’S  TRADE  UNION  LEAGUE  111 


The  establishment  of  the  National  Women’s  Trade  Union 
League  and  its  local  branches  was  a new  development.  It 
created  for  the  first  time  within  the  American  labor  move- 
ment what  was  practically  a federation  of  trade  unions  with 
women  members.  It  recognized  and  induced  others  to 
recognize  the  working  women’s  group  as  sharing  in  the 
problems  and  difiiculties  common  to  all,  yet  also  with 
problems  of  their  own,  problems  for  which  it  was  necessary 
to  find  a solution. 

The  leaders  of  the  new  movement  have  directed  their 
energies  into  two  or  three  distinct  channels.  Their  ultimate 
aim  is  to  concentrate  and  give  unified  expression  to  the 
aims  and  aspirations  of  the  working  women  whether  these 
are  waitresses  or  seamstresses,  paper  box  makers  or  teleg- 
raphers. Their  immediate  purpose  is  to  build  up  and 
strengthen  the  trade  union  membership  by  aiding  organiza- 
tion wherever  they  see  the  need,  sometimes  directly,  more 
often  by  giving  help  to  local  unions  already  in  existence. 

Where  organization  is  too  slow  a method  to  relieve  op- 
pression, it  is  on  legislation  that  the  League  bends  its 
efforts.  The  work  is  still  in  the  experimental  stage,  but 
the  very  fact  that  so  important  and  representative  a group 
of  labor  women  have  come  together,  and  are  expressing 
their  common  desires,  has  placed  those  desires  in  more 
definite  form  before  labor  men.  The  men  have  realized 
more  clearly  how  reasonable  the  women’s  demands  are,  and 
how  urgent  it  is,  for  the  sake  of  the  whole  labor  cause,  that 
they  be  aided  in  their  efforts  to  raise  wage  standards  and 
improve  the  working  conditions  of  the  underpaid  and  over- 
worked women,  with  whom  our  factories  are  filled. 

Labor  leaders  admit  that  the  woman  organizer  is  an 
indispensable  factor  if  women  are  to  be  drawn  in  in  any 
effective  numbers  into  the  trade  unions.  The  practical 
difiiculties  in  the  path  of  the  ordinary  man  business  agent 


112  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


when  trying  to  convert  girls  to  his  way  of  thinking  are  too 
great.  It  is  not  always  easy  for  a man  to  win  a girl’s 
confidence,  nor  is  he  always  familiar  enough  with  the 
details  of  her  job  to  talk  convincingly  about  it.  This 
shows  the  need  of  women  organizers,  and  many  of  them, 
drawn  from  various  trades,  speaking  different  languages, 
and  trained  both  in  the  technical  side  of  organizing,  and 
in  a broad  understanding  of  the  relations  of  the  workers 
to  industry. 

Further,  since  men  trade  unionists  have  their  own  hard 
and  pressing  problems  to  face,  and  are  absorbed  in  these, 
if  men  only  have  the  directing  of  labor  policies,  either  in 
the  national  bodies,  or  in  the  local  unions,  or  in  the 
American  Federation  of  Labor  itself,  it  will  inevitably  hap- 
pen that  the  affairs  of  women,  and  the  interests  of  women 
will  receive  much  less  attention  than  their  importance 
deserves.  The  leading  women  trade  unionists  in  the  ranks 
of  the  League  have  therefore  been  interpreters  to  the  men 
of  the  labor  movement  of  the  silent  discontent,  of  the  un- 
righted wrongs  and  of  the  suppressed  irritations  of  a vast 
number  of  working  women  in  many  occupations,  in  many 
centers.  Their  task  of  interpretation  is  a continuous  one, 
and  one  which  has  to  be  carried  to  fresh  organizations  of 
men  as  new  occupations  are  opened  up  to  women. 

There  are  modern  ways  in  which  trade  union  men  can 
encourage  the  entrance  of  women  into  the  unions.  One  is 
to  encourage  women  organizers  and  to  see  that  a much 
larger  number  of  women  organizers  are  kept  in  the  field 
all  the  time.  It  must  be  remembered  that  although  the 
amount  of  money  which  has  been  expended  by  the  trade 
unionists  of  the  United  States  and  Canada  is  very  large, 
the  proportion  used  to  bring  the  women  into  trade  unions  is 
comparatively  insignificant. 

Another  way  is  by  granting  to  women  representation 


THE  WOMEN’S  TRADE  UNION  LEAGUE  113 


upon  all  labor  bodies,  committees  and  boards,  beginning 
with  the  Executive  Council  of  the  American  Federation  of 
Labor,  and  including  the  executive  boards  of  all  national 
unions  with  women  members. 

The  League  membership  aims: — 

To  provide  a common  meeting  ground  for  women  of  all  groups 
who  endorse  the  principles  of  democracy  and  wish  to  see  them 
applied  to  industry. 

To  encourage  self-government  in  the  workshop. 

To  develop  leadership  among  the  women  workers,  inspiring 
them  with  a sense  of  personal  responsibility  for  the  conditions 
under  which  they  work. 

To  insure  the  protection  of  the  younger  girls  in  their  efforts 
for  better  working  conditions  and  a living  wage. 

To  secure  for  girls  and  women  equal  opportunity  with  boys  and 
men  in  trades  and  technical  training  and  pay  on  the  basis  of 
occupation  and  not  on  the  basis  of  sex. 

To  secure  the  representation  of  women  on  industrial  tribunals 
and  public  boards  and  commissions. 

To  interpret  to  the  public  geperally  the  aims  and  purposes  of 
the  trade  union  movement. 

To  be  successful,  any  association  must  measure  up  to 
the  needs  of  its  own  time.  To  do  this,  it  is  often  necessary 
to  look  ahead  a little,  as  the  League  did,  when  it  asked 
for  a federal  enquiry  into  the  conditions  under  which 
women  were  working;  when  it  led  in  the  endeavor  to 
establish  within  the  Department  of  Labor  a Woman’s  Divi- 
sion under  a woman  chief;  when  it  urged  upon  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy,  the  importance  of  declaring  stand- 
ards for  women’s  work  in  wartime;  when  it  sent  two  of 
its  members  to  the  Peace  Conference  at  Versailles  to  present 
its  reconstruction  program;  when,  backed  by  the  working 
women  of  Great  Britain  and  France,  it  called  the  first 


114  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


International  Congress  of  Working  Women.  To  bring  this 
about  the  League  did  not  hesitate  to  lay  aside  some  of  its 
own  local  dutira,  expending  its  resources  on  making  inter- 
communication between  the  wage-earning  women  of  widely 
separated  lands  a reality  and  a success. 

The  important  part  played  by  the  National  Women’s 
Trade  Union  League  in  providing  a channel  of  ex'pression 
and  an  organization  to  safeguard  in  some  degree  the  inter- 
ests of  all  women  workers  was  well  exemplified  during  the 
war.  A few  years  earlier  there  would  have  been  no  such 
organization  in  existence.  In  the  chapter  dealing  with 
working  women  and  the  war  there  is  a brief  account  of 
how  women  in  industry  w'ere  affected  through  the  placing 
of  war  orders  in  this  country,  from  at  least  the  beginning 
of  1915. 

In  June,  1917,  when  the  Kansas  City  Convention  was 
held,  our  coxmtry  had  already  been  actually  involved  in 
the  war  for  three  months,  and  the  problems  of  women’s 
employment  and  the  work  they  were  being  asked  to  do, 
needed  closer  attention  than  ever  on  account  of  the  army 
raised  by  conscription  removing  tens  of  thousands  of  men 
from  the  industries.  The  convention  outlined  standards 
of  industry  to  be  established  for  government  contracts, 
which  were  presented  to  President  Wilson  himself,  to 
Secretary  of  War  Baker,  and  to  Secretary  of  Labor  Wilson, 
and  to  the  Women  in  Industry  Committee  of  the  Council 
of  National  Defense.  In  many  of  the  states  these  stand- 
ards were  adopted  and  also  in  the  United  States  Ordnance 
Department. 

In  the  biennial  conventions  of  the  League,  trade  union 
women  have  emphasized  their  stand  on  vocational  training. 
They  feel  that  it  should  be  co-educational.  Any  other 
plan  could  only  prove,  later  on,  an  additional  handicap 
to  the  sex  overlooked.  They  ask  also  that  it  include  an 


THE  WOMEN’S  TRADE  UNION  LEAGUE  115 


intelligent  knowledge  of  the  development  of  modern  in- 
dustry, showing  why  collective  bargaining  is  a necessity, 
and  also  some  knowledge  of  labor  legislation,  and  the  im- 
pressing upon  the  worker  of  the  duty  laid  upon  her  to  help 
in  the  enforcement  of  laws  enacted  for  her  own  protection. 
Trade  union  women  in  convention  have  also  pled  for  the 
woman  on  the  farm,  the  economic  value  of  whose  product 
is  unquestioned,  although  it  goes  unrecognized  because  she 
is  not  paid  money  wages.  Since  there  is  no  record  of  the 
wealth  she  creates,  she  is  not  regarded  as  a genuine  creator 
of  wealth.  In  the  convention  of  1915  these  same  trade 
union  women  asked  that  women’s  colleges  should  throw 
open  their  doors  to  wage-earning  women  during  the  slack 
summer  months  when  it  would  be  possible  for  the  working 
girl  to  attend  for  a summer  comse.  This  had  its  fulfilment 
first  at  Bryn  Mawr  College  in  the  Summer  School  of  1921. 

The  National  Women’s  Trade  Union  League,  because  it 
is  part  of  the  woman  movement  as  well  as  a part  of  organ- 
ized labor,  has  often  interpreted  to  labor  men  the  needs  of 
women  and  has  not  infrequently  passed  on  to  them  the 
inspiration  of  women’s  idealism.  It  has  besides  welded  ad- 
ditional links  only  too  much  needed  between  the  working 
class  movement  and  the  woman  movement,  as  expressed 
through  such  organizations  as  the  National  League  of 
Women  Voters  and  the  General  Federation  of  Women’s 
Clubs,  the  National  Young  Women’s  Christian  Association 
and  women’s  colleges.  Valuable  support  also  has  been 
accorded  by  the  Federal  Council  of  Churches  and  the 
Catholic  Welfare  Council. 

In  the  year  1907  Mrs.  Raymond  Robins  accepted  the 
position  of  National  President  to  the  then  infant  league. 
During  the  next  fifteen  years  Mrs.  Robins  put  up  a record 
for  initiative,  courage  and  resourcefulness.  In  her  public 
life  the  cause  of  the  labor  women,  who  had  chosen  her  as 


116  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


their  leader,  was  always  her  first  interest.  Not  the  least 
of  her  qualifications  as  a leader  in  these  difficult  days, 
is  that  she  has  vision  that  helps  her  to  look  forward  to 
the  claims  of  tomorrow  as  well  as  the  needs  of  today;  in 
this  Mrs.  Robins  has  been  continually  supported  by  her 
sister,  Miss  Mary  Dreier. 

The  local  League  in  New  York  opened  its  first  headquar- 
ters in  a small  home  in  one  of  the  East  Side  streets.  A 
year  later,  as  one  of  the  charter  members  relates,  when  a 
room  on  First  Avenue  up  five  fiights  of  dirty  and  dark 
stairs  was  secured,  that  was  thought  to  be  a great  meeting 
place  for  working  women. 

The  earliest  call  made  upon  them  for  help  was  in  that 
most  pitiful  of  all  social  uprisings,  a children’s  strike. 
These  young  strikers,  children  under  twelve,  were  asking 
for  shorter  hours  and  higher  wages.  When  arrested  and 
brought  for  picketing  before  the  Jefferson  Market  Court, 
members  of  the  League  came  to  their  help,  and  succeeded 
in  attracting  some  public  attention  towards  their  deplorable 
situation. 

It  is  pathetic  as  well  as  ridiculous  to  recall  that  it  was 
necessary  to  provide  the  children  with  legal  assistance  to 
meet  a charge  of  violent  resistance.  Children  are  the 
hardest  group  of  any  to  aid.  As  has  been  said;  “They 
as  a whole  want  to  work,  the  parents  want  them  to  work 
and  the  employer  wants  them  to  work,  so  they  all  unite  to 
dodge  the  law.  Children  are  unconscious  philosophers  and 
stoics.  If  they  are  underpaid,  overworked,  forced  to  work 
under  conditions  which  few  men  or  women  would  stand, 
they  rarely  complain  but  take  it  all  as  a matter  of  course.” 

Going  outside  of  New  York,  the  League  was  called  to 
give  assistance  in  the  laundry  workers’  strike  in  Troy, 
N.  Y.,  in  1905,  described  elsewhere. 

In  New  York  some  young  cap-makers  went  out  on  a 


THE  WOMEN’S  TRADE  UNION  LEAGUE  117 


strike.  They  were  asking  shorter  hours  and  more  money. 
They  were  also  protesting  against  the  custom  of  having 
to  pay  for  their  own  machines,  needles,  thread  and  power. 
Among  the  cap-makers  were  a number  of  Slavic-Jewesses 
who  would  work  all  day  and  attend  lectures  and  debates 
at  night.  One  of  these  was  Rose  Schneiderman,  who  first 
came  to  the  front  in  this  cap-makers’  strike.  She  has  been 
an  ardent  trade  unionist  ever  since,  and  is  now  president  of 
the  Women’s  Trade  Union  League  of  New  York,  and  Vice- 
President  of  the  National  League. 

Between  1904  and  1909  work  was  very  slow  and  results 
apparently  but  insignificant.  But  league  members  kept  in 
touch  with  the  poorest  and  weakest  and  searched  out  yet 
other  poor  and  weak  ones  among  the  hat  trimmers,  the 
shirtwaist  makers,  the  petticoat  makers,  the  white  goods 
workers,  the  neckwear  workers,  the  leather  workers,  and 
the  textile  workers,  making  friends  with  individual  girls  and 
meeting  with  them  and  their  friends  in  halls  in  the  rear 
of  saloons,  for  no  other  halls  were  open  to  them.  They 
knew  nothing  of  social  settlements  in  those  days.  League 
members  went  out  on  the  streets  and  talked  at  street 
corners,  at  the  hour  when  the  working  girls  were  going 
home. 

In  1909  came  the  first  of  the  large  strikes  in  the  women’s 
trades.  It  called  out  the  shirtwaist  makers  in  an  uprising 
which  has  been  often  described.  That  strike  was  the  last 
of  a long  series  and  was  known  at  the  time  as  the  “Strike 
of  the  Forty  Thousand.”  Every  morning  the  League  sta- 
tioned their  own  members  in  front  of  factories  to  act  as 
witnesses  in  cases  of  unlawful  arrest  and  to  check  the 
insulting  conduct  of  many  of  the  police.  They  helped  in  the 
provision  of  bail,  provision  prompt  and  adequate;  but  the 
greatest  contribution  and  the  one  in  which  they  themselves 
gained  experience  against  many  and  succeeding  industrial 


118  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


struggles,  was  the  securing  of  publicity  for  the  workers  in 
bringing  out  before  churches  and  clubs  and  in  the  news- 
papers, the  intolerable  conditions  that  had  driven  these 
young  foreign  girls  to  revolt.  Were  little  girls  in  short 
skirts  given  terms  in  the  workhouse,  the  League  leaders  had 
a picture  taken  of  a group  of  them,  each  displaying  a badge 
that  announced  she  was  a “workhouse  prisoner.”  Of 
course  that  was  a good  picture  to  print  and  printed  it  was. 
In  these  and  many  other  like  ways  the  League  played  a 
part  in  the  struggle,  which,  often  renewed  since,  has  at 
length  ended  in  the  transformation  of  the  needle  trades 
from  a sweated  and  degraded  occupation  to  one  of  the 
best  paid,  most  highly  standardized  and  most  efiScient 
trades  in  the  country. 

In  1911  occurred  the  appalling  fire  in  the  Triangle  Fac- 
tory in  Washington  Square.  A fire  in  a new  fire-proof 
building,  so  surely  fire-proof  in  structure  that  a few  hours 
after  the  flames  were  out  the  firemen  were  able  to  walk 
across  the  floors  unharmed;  yet  the  corpses  of  one  hundred 
and  forty -three  girls,  and  the  injured  bodies  of  many  more 
bore  witness  to  the  fact  that  no  fire-proof  building  spells 
safety  unless  the  lives  of  the  workers  are  protected  by 
proper  management.  The  Women’s  Trade  Union  League 
came  to  the  front  immediately,  organizing  a citizens’  com- 
mittee to  push  for  an  investigation.  The  Chicago  League 
and  other  local  leagues  followed  suit  by  urging  the  need 
for  the  Fire  Prevention  Bureaus  which  have  since  been 
established  in  many  cities. 

Very  similar  has  been  the  struggle  of  the  League  in  other 
cities.  In  Boston,  garment  workers,  oflBce  building  clean- 
ers, telephone  girls  and  news-stand  girls,  have  all  been 
aided  in  their  efforts  to  build  up  organizations. 

In  the  strike  of  policemen,  when  in  1919  the  city  was 
policed  by  troops  and  the  entire  state  was  wrought  up  to 


THE  WOMEN’S  TRADE  UNION  LEAGUE  119> 


a high  pitch  of  excitement  over  the  several  rights  of  the 
state,  of  the  city  authorities,  the  public  and  the  workers 
the  Women’s  Trade  Union  League  helped  to  place,  through 
a well-prepared  statement,  through  meetings  addressed  by 
well-known  citizens  and  through  mass  gatherings  of  the 
policemen’s  wives  some  of  the  reasons  for  the  men’s  posi- 
tion. 

In  Chicago  the  League’s  first  work,  which  there  dates  from 
1904,  was  with  the  locked  out  corset  workers  of  Aurora, 
Illinois;  they  took  what  was  then  quite  an  original  move, 
by  writing  to  all  the  women’s  clubs  throughout  Illinois, 
telling  the  conditions  under  which  were  working  those 
women  who  were  making  garments  for  women.  They  were 
able  to  help  in  the  stockyards  strike  (1904)  which  involved 
so  many  hundreds  of  girls. 

When  the  general  strike  in  the  men’s  garment  trade  struck 
Chicago  in  the  Fall  of  1909,  the  League  co-operated  with 
the  United  Garment  Workers  and  with  the  Chicago  Federa- 
tion of  Labor;  especially  was  it  helpful  in  the  share  it 
played  in  the  establishment  of  commissary  stores.  The 
officers  also  aided  both  in  the  making  of  the  settlements 
which  resulted  from  that  strike,  particularly  the  Hart, 
Schaffner  & Marx  agreement,  and  also  in  the  working  out 
of  that  agreement. 

In  Philadelphia  the  League  has  co-operated  in  raising 
standards  and  furthering  the  organization  of  waitresses, 
women  upholsterers,  cigar  makers,  office  workers,  candy 
makers,  dress  makers,  neckwear  workers,  machinists,  textile 
workers,  telegraphers,  leather  workers,  librarians  and  public 
school  teachers. 

The  criticism  had  often  previously  been  made  of  working 
women  that  they  showed  little  desire  for  their  political 
enfranchisement.  Through  the  leagues  in  the  various  cities 
working  women  gathered  together  and  formed  industrial 


120  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


sections  of  the  woman’s  suffrage  movement,  carrying  on 
campaigns  among  working  women  and  labor  voters,  reach- 
ing also  vast  numbers  of  working  men  who  were  not  them- 
selves unionists.  In  New  York,  for  example,  members  of 
the  section  who  spoke  Italian  used  to  go  down  into  the 
subways,  then  in  process  of  construction,  and  interested 
the  often  astonished  Italian  workmen  busy  at  their  sub- 
terranean task.  There  were  even  more  direct  pleas,  visits 
to  Albany  and  Springfield,  Illinois,  when  the  legislature 
was  in  session,  by  working  girls  pleading  for  suffrage.  Nor 
did  these  confine  their  attention  to  the  inhabitants  of  cities. 
In  trips  all  over  the  States  of  Massachusetts  and  New  York, 
and  especially  on  automobile  tours,  working  women  made  a 
deep  impression  on  the  voters,  distributing  literature  of 
an  original  type,  urging  many  most  practical  arguments 
and  influencing  definitely  the  up-state  or  down-state  work- 
ing class  vote. 

In  the  Fall  of  1913  the  National  Women’s  Trade  Union 
League  established  a small  training  school  for  women  plan- 
ning to  do  active  work  in  the  labor  movement  as  organizers, 
secretaries  or  investigators.  It  was  the  first  full-time  labor 
school  in  this  country,  and  is  still,  we  believe,  the  only 
one  giving  field  training  as  well  as  academic  work. 

The  school  gives  instruction  in  English,  public  speaking, 
in  labor  problems  and  the  handling  of  meetings.  The 
students  learn  to  draft  a trade  union  agreement  and  through 
field  work  handle  the  practical  problems  of  the  organizer. 
From  small  beginnings  the  school  is  gradually  extending 
its  work,  and  indirectly  its  influence  has  been  felt  in  the 
recent  developments  of  the  workers’  education,  such  as 
the  Bryn  Mawr  summer  school  for  women  in  industry. 

The  local  leagues  co-operate  wherever  there  is  an  effort 
to  establish  workers’  education. 


THE  WOMEN’S  TRADE  UNION  LEAGUE  121 


In  many  diflBcult  situations  the  National  Women’s  Trade 
Union  League  and  its  local  branches  have  helped  the  women 
workers  to  gain  the  victory  or  in  the  midst  of  defeat  to 
snatch  advantages  for  the  future  building  up  of  their  or- 
ganization. This  has  been  notably  so  in  the  long  struggle 
in  the  needle  trades,  where  it  contributed  everything  that 
an  organization  could  for  a number  of  years.  The  assist- 
ance of  its  organizers  has  been  time  and  again  at  the 
disposal  of  every  needle  trades  union.  To  the  United 
Garment  Workers  it  contributed  the  services  of  Mary  An- 
derson and  Bessie  Abramovitch  (now  Mrs.  Sidney  Hill- 
man) , educating  the  women  in  meeting  shop  difficulties  in 
the  early  days  of  the  Hart,  Schaffner  & Marx  agreement. 

In  New  York  Rose  Schneiderman  for  four  years  gave 
aid  to  the  International  Ladies’  Garment  Workers,  working 
among  the  unorganized  white  goods  workers. 

To  the  then  almost  untouched  South  went  Mary  Thomp- 
son in  the  textile  mills,  and  Mildred  Rankin  and  Bertha 
Funk  made  the  colored  workers  of  Norfolk  their  care. 

Mrs.  Maud  Swartz,  printer,  was  elected  National  Presi- 
dent in  1922. 

During  the  nearly  twenty  years  of  its  existence  the 
League  and  its  branches  have  been  associated  with  working 
women  in  the  most  varied  occupations;  its  membership 
has  been  drawn  from  among  every  branch  of  the  sewing 
trades ; from  textile  workers,  workers  in  metal,  paper,  paint, 
celluloid  and  food  products.  Manicurists  and  scrub  wo- 
men, soap  makers  and  printers,  stockyards  workers,  jewelry 
workers,  household  workers,  hospital  employes,  public 
health  nurses  and  office  workers,  are  some  others,  that 
make  up  the  great  army  of  women  who  have  been  drawn 
into  contact  with  this  organization,  and  who  have  helped 
to  build  up  its  membership. 

The  connection  of  the  League  with  the  setting  on  foot 


122  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


of  the  agitation  for  an  investigation  into  the  conditions 
of  wage-earning  women  and  children,  which  had  as  its  cul- 
mination the  establishment  of  the  Women’s  Bureau,  is  de- 
scribed in  the  chapter  so  entitled. 

The  National  Women’s  Trade  Union  League  stands  for 
placing  industry  upon  such  a basis  that  the  long  and 
exhausting  strikes  of  which  we  have  so  many,  shall  be 
made  unnecessary;  made  unnecessary  through  such  organ- 
ization of  the  workers  that  industry  can  be  placed  upon 
an  equitable  basis  and  the  collective  agreement  and  not 
force  or  individual  profit  be  the  deciding  factor  in  any  in- 
dustrial arrangement  or  re-arrangement.  That  the  workers 
may  be  strong  to  meet  difficulties,  and  wise  in  facing  them, 
is  the  argument  for  organization  and  for  education  with 
women  as  well  as  men. 


Chapter  VII 


INDUSTRIAL  LEGISLATION 

The  field  of  industrial  legislation  is  large  and  covers 
such  laws  as  the  limitation  of  hours,  the  forbidding  or 
regulating  of  night  work,  controlling  the  payment  of  wages, 
either  as  to  amount  or  the  form  in  which  they  must  be 
paid,  the  time  at  which  they  may  be  paid,  notice  of  dis- 
charge, deductions  from  wages,  whether  as  fines  or  in  any 
other  form. 

Inside  the  factory  working  conditions  may  be  the  subject 
of  legislative  action,  usually  of  state  laws,  often  of  city 
ordinances.  The  health  and  endurance  of  employes  and 
their  liability  through  lowered  resistance  to  succumb  to 
disease,  are  matters  of  great  importance  to  the  workers, 
and  hence,  it  must  be  remembered,  to  the  community. 
Therefore  temperature  must  be  regulated;  and  ventilation, 
the  getting  rid  of  used  air,  the  drawing  off  of  excessive 
heat  and  humidity,  and  its  replacement  by  pure  and  fresh 
air,  is  equally  important.  When  we  touch  upon  industries 
in  which  the  air  is  vitiated  by  far  more  dangerous  elements 
than  the  breath  or  other  exhalations  of  the  human  body, 
the  regulation  of  these  matters  has  to  be  yet  more  definite 
and  precise.  From  this  we  go  on  to  enter  the  field  of 
occupational  disease.  Lead,  for  instance,  is  in  use  in  more 
than  one  hundred  trades  and  in  some  forms  is  most  injurious 
to  the  worker.  If  yellow  phosphorus  is  employed  in  mak- 
ing matches,  it  is  likely  to  cause  decay  of  the  jaw  in  those 
who  handle  it.  Mercury  will  poison  those  who  work  with 

123 


124  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


it.  Dust  in  the  air  given  off  in  grinding  stone  or  metals, 
or  in  the  form  of  powdered  flint,  is  very  harmful  to  the 
lungs  and  may  be  the  basis  of  many  respiratory  troubles. 
Some  of  these  are  very  ancient  types  of  injury  and  are 
mentioned,  so  says  Dr.  Alice  Hamilton,  as  occurring  as 
far  back  as  the  Roman  Empire. 

Again,  many  of  the  diseases  that  today  take  a heavy  toll 
of  the  workers’  strength  and  of  many  workers’  lives,  are 
entirely  the  result  of  our  modern  industrial  system  of 
making  everything  on  a great  scale,  of  utilizing  machinery 
to  the  limit  and  of  turning  to  commercial  use  the  mar- 
velous discoveries  of  the  last  hundred  years  in  the  field 
of  applied  chemistry.  The  nervous  exhaustion  and  the 
hazards  to  health  that  follow  in  the  train  of  night  work 
had  no  existence  till  modern  systems  of  lighting  began  to 
be  installed  in  manufacturing  plants.  The  hand  tools  and 
the  simple  machinery  of  times  as  recent  as  the  eighteenth 
century  held  few  risks  for  the  artisan.  The  individual 
wielder  of  the  chisel  and  the  hammer  could  very  w'ell  care 
for  his  own  safety.  The  spinner  and  the  weaver  inhaled 
little  fine  lint  from  the  atmosphere  they  breathed.  The 
scant  use  of  artificial  light  in  former  days  largely  limited 
to  the  hours  of  daylight  any  work  that  w'as  trying  to  the 
eyes. 

We  were  altogether  unprepared  for  the  development  of 
new  industrial  health  risks  during  the  World  War.  The 
unfamiliar  chemicals,  and  especially  the  high  explosives  and 
poison  gases,  never  before  known  in  hxunan  history,  brought 
death  and  destruction  to  many  outside  of  their  intended 
field  among  the  unfortunate  human  beings  who  chanced 
to  be  on  the  firing  line  or  within  the  danger  limits  of  the 
battle  on  either  side  of  the  conflict.  Inasmuch  as  these 
instruments  of  death  were  incredibly  more  powerful  and 
ruinous  to  the  enemy  than  any  weapon  of  warfare  hitherto 


INDUSTRIAL  LEGISLATION 


125 


conceived  of  by  man,  so  inevitably  was  their  manufacture 
attended  by  greater  risks.  Furthermore,  these  risks  were 
many  of  them  unforeseen,  even  by  the  chemists  who  in- 
vented the  compounds.  Much  less  did  the  manufacturer 
who  produced  them  or  the  working  people  who  handled 
them,  suspect  them  as  the  cause  of  illness  and  death. 

Trinitrotoluol,  or  TNT,  was  the  most  dangerous  of  these 
compounds,  causing  in  Great  Britain  during  1916-17  370 
cases  of  toxic  jaundice  with  96  deaths,  and  in  the  United 
States  no  less  than  13  known  deaths  more  than  a year 
before  our  entrance  into  the  war.  Less  dangerous  to  life 
but  causing  • distressing  affections  of  the  skin  were  tetryl, 
picric  acid  and  fulminate  of  mercury.  The  girls  who 
worked  with  them  suffered  from  burning,  itching  eruptions, 
the  disfiguring  effect  of  which  was  added  to  by  a dirty 
yellow  or  orange  stain  of  the  skin,  hair  and  eyebrows,  a 
stain  which  lasted  months  after  the  girl  had  left  work. 
Ether  was  used  in  the  manufacture  of  smokeless  powder, 
and  the  girls  and  women  who  worked  in  the  ether  fumes 
experienced  the  acute  discomfort  attendant  upon  the  early 
stages  of  ether  anaesthesia,  headache,  throbbing,  nausea, 
thirst,  vomiting,  excitement,  then  depression  and  drowsi- 
ness followed  by  sleep  from  which  they  awoke  to  all  the 
wretchedness  of  the  after  effects  of  the  anaesthesia.  Girls 
were  found  to  be  so  much  more  susceptible  than  men  that 
in  Great  Britain  latterly  men  alone  were  employed  on  the 
ether  work  but  in  the  United  States  they  were  in  it  till 
the  end. 

Finally,  the  greatest  danger  to  which  workers  in  Amer-. 
ican  explosive  plants  were  subjected  came  from  the  nitrogen 
oxide  gases  formed  in  making  gun  cotton,  picric  acid,  TNT 
and  tetryl.  There  were  almost  1,400  cases  of  gassing  from 
this  source  during  1916,  and  28  deaths.  The  men  who 
breathed  these  fumes  died  exactly  as  did  the  gassed  sol- 


126  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


diers  in  the  trenches,  or,  like  them,  lived  with  damaged 
lungs. 

It  is  a curious  commentary  upon  our  lack  of  foresight 
and  our  strange  sense  of  irresponsibility  where  human 
welfare  is  at  stake,  that  in  almost  all  cases  the  only  test 
that  is  demanded  of  a new  substance  put  to  use  in  industry, 
of  a new  process  adopted  by  industry,  is  whether  it  is  mate- 
rially efficient;  that  is,  whether  it  will  result  in  production 
in  the  amount  that  is  required  and  at  a price  that  will  pay. 
That  is  all  we  ask  of  the  chemist  when  he  turns  out  a new 
drug,  a new  dye  or  a new  war  gas.  With  these  conditions 
he  must  comply  or  he  cannot  market  his  discovery. 

The  history  of  the  handling  of  these  novel  ingredients 
in  chemical  production  is  on  the  other  hand  a stor\-  of 
experiment,  with  the  worker  this  time,  not  the  material, 
as  the  subject  of  experiment.  The  knowledge  of  risks  to 
the  munition  worker  in  the  use  of  picric  acid,  of  TNT,  of 
tetryl  or  of  airplane  varnish,  was  not  sold  along  with  the 
secrets  of  their  preparation  or  combination.  That  there 
were  such  risks  was  discovered  by  chemists  or  by  doctors 
only  after  the  injury  had  been  done  and  after  many  groups 
of  workers  had  suffered. 

A most  essential  addition,  therefore,  to  every  manufac- 
turing plant  today  is  a first  aid  station,  perhaps  more  than 
one.  A certain  amount  of  industrial  risk  is  now  recognized 
as  inseparable  from  the  use  of  these  as  yet  unfamiliar 
forces  that  we  have  drawn  into  the  service  of  modern 
industry,  and  the  doctor  and  the  nurse  are  the  agents  of 
protection. 

The  modem  fire  hazard  is  something  of  which  our  grand- 
fathers knew  nothing.  The  risks  come  in  all  sorts  of  ways, 
through  our  prodigal  use  of  all  sorts  of  inflammable  or 
explosive  substances,  such  as  spirituous  solvents  or  cellu- 
loid, or  gases.  The  crowding  together  of  immense  numbers 


INDUSTRIAL  LEGISLATION 


127 


of  men  and  women  may  not  be  insanitary,  if  adequate 
ventilation  be  provided  for,  but  their  rescue  in  case  of  fire  is 
rendered  more  difficult  with  each  additional  story.  Hence 
the  comparative  frequency  of  fatal  accidents  in  the  small 
plants  operating  in  loft  buildings  of  city  districts.  Escape 
is  far  more  difficult  than  in  case  of  fire  in  a plant  of 
apparently  a more  dangerous  kind,  built  on  the  outskirts 
of  a city  with  greater  floor  space  and  of  lesser  height.  It 
was  not  until  the  investigations  of  the  New  York  State 
Factory  Commission  in  1911-13  that  public  attention  was 
called  to  this  very  elementary  fact.  Mr.  H.  F.  J.  Porter, 
fire  expert,  explained  it  thus: 

Buildings  occupied  by  many  people  on  each  floor  are  univer- 
sally deficient  in  stairways.  The  condition  has  come  about 
through  the  gradual  growth  of  industry.  Small  factories  had 
increased  the  number  of  their  employes  and  added  extensions  to 
their  buildings  to  accommodate  them,  but  provided  no  additional 
stairways.  Architects  and  builders,  instead  of  recognizing  this 
defect  in  their  building  design,  continued  blindly  to  follow  the 
lines  which  they  saw  developing.  They  still  designed  their  budd- 
ings with  inadequate  interior  stairways  and  exit  facilities,  and 
then  proceeded  to  develop  this  outside  fire  escape  into  a perma- 
nent feature. 

Mr.  Porter  lays  it  down  that  a stairway  three  feet  wide 
to  serve  a number  of  floors  can  accommodate  but  twelve 
people  per  floor  above  the  seventh  floor.  He  and  most 
other  fire  experts  look  upon  elevator  service  as  worse  than 
useless  in  case  of  fire,  since  an  elevator  may  so  easily  be 
blocked  and  go  out  of  commission,  and  if  blocked  between 
floors  during  a fire  only  adds  a fresh  horror. 

Yet  another  field  of  industrial  legislation  is  that  of  work- 
men’s compensation,  which  comes  in  the  train  of  the 
increasing  risks,  both  from  accidents  and  disease,  incurred 
in  following  modern  industrial  occupations.  These,  as  we 


128  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


have  seen,  are  likely,  with  changing  methods  in  manufac- 
ture, to  increase  and  appear  in  new  forms.  Workmen’s 
compensation  laws  lay  part,  at  least,  of  the  money  cost 
upon  industry,  to  be  met  as  a regular  outlay,  part  of  the 
overhead  expenses  of  running  a business. 

Far  the  larger  part  of  labor  legislation  affects  men 
equally  with  women.  Certain  laws,  it  is  true,  such  as  those 
regarding  sailors  or  railway  engineers,  or  foremen,  or  train 
conductors,  bear  upon  men’s  condition  only,  as  only  men 
follow  those  callings.  Certain  others,  again,  such  as  those 
providing  care  for  women  before  and  after  childbirth,  or 
while  nursing  young  infants,  are  similarly  for  the  benefit  of 
one  sex  only.  There  are  also  a number  of  laws  which  for 
one  reason  or  another,  are  framed  to  cover  women  alone, 
although  their  provisions  are  also  desirable  for  men.  The 
peculiar  restrictions  of  our  United  States  Constitution  and 
of  practically  all  of  the  state  constitutions,  introduce  a 
complication  which  other  countries  have  not  to  face.  But 
other  countries  as  well  as  ourselves,  have  inherited  from 
simpler  times  and  from  a simple  theory  of  individual  lib- 
erty matching  those  times,  the  idea  that  all  such  questions 
were  fitly  to  be  settled  on  the  basis  of  a personal  bargain 
between  the  workman  and  his  employer.  Our  own  peculiar 
handicap  lies  in  this,  that  the  idea  was  given  such  definite 
and  unalterable  expression  in  the  federal  and  state  consti- 
tutions that  though  social  conditions  altered,  it  was  not 
possible  to  alter  or  modify  the  phraseology  of  these  docu- 
ments so  that  practice  should  keep  pace  with  changing 
conditions.  Efforts  to  put  upon  these  articles  of  political 
and  national  faith  a modern  interpretation,  have  been 
blocked  continuously,  blocked  through  habits  of  thought, 
blocked  still  more  effectually  by  economic  interest. 

Generation  after  generation  of  workers  have  been  sacri- 
ficed' through  this  clinging  to  a literal  interpretation  of  a 


INDUSTRIAL  LEGISLATION 


129 


fine  idea,  where  a spiritual  interpretation  would  have 
given  to  it  a broader  meaning  and  won  from  it  splendid 
results  for  real  freedom. 

From  the  year  1847  on,  the  story  of  legislative  efforts 
was  a most  disheartening  one.  The  year  1847  saw  the 
passage  in  New  Hampshire  of  a bill  making  a ten-hour 
day  for  both  men  and  women  the  legal  workday.  Other 
states  followed.  The  bills  carried,  nevertheless,  what  we 
have  come  to  know  later  as  a joker.  The  law  was  not  valid 
in  any  case  where  an  “express  contract”  to  the  contrary, 
existed  between  employer  and  worker.  Three  days  before 
the  law  was  to  come  into  operation,  the  manufacturers  saw 
to  it  that  “express  contracts”  were  prepared  and  signed  by 
the  employes. 

In  the  following  year  the  question  led  to  a strike  im 
seven  of  the  cotton  factories  of  Allegheny,  Pennsylvania, 
lasting  for  seven  weeks.  The  owners  then  introduced 
ten-hour  system,  but  with  an  accompanying  reduction  of 
wages  of  ten  per  cent.  This  compromise!  the  workers 
accepted  in  the  hope  that  later  wages  would  be  raised 
“after  the  next  legislature  perfects  the  law,  and  the  manu- 
facturers discover  that  they  can  afford  it.”  The  law  soon 
fell  into  disuse.  The  present  ten-hour  law  of  Pennsylvania 
applies  to  women  only. 

In  1852  in  the  State  of  Ohio  a ten-hour  law  for  all  work- 
ers was  passed,  but  it  again  was  effective  only  when  the 
employe  was  “compelled”  to  work  longer.  No  really  di-  k 
rect  compulsion  was  required  when  a woman  had  her 
bread  to  earn.  It  was  not  necessary  for  a foreman  to  stand 
over  her  with  a whip.  The  pressing  need  for  employment 
and  the  inability  to  refuse  it  whatever  the  terms  offered, 
provided  compulsion  enough. 

In  the  year  1876  Massachusetts,  a state  with  a great 
legislative  record,  standing  at  the  head  of  all  the  industrial 


130  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


states  in  humane  legislation  concerning  the  workers,  passed 
a law  prohibiting  the  employment  of  women  and  children  in 
manufacture  longer  than  ten  hours  in  one  day  and  60 
hours  in  one  week.  The  law  was  tested  before  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Massachusetts  in  1879,  and  declared  valid. 

The  State  of  New  York  made  several  similar  attempts 
but  no  legislation  of  any  value  was  passed  till  1898. 

A very  serious  backward  step  was  taken  in  Illinois  in  the 
celebrated  Ritchie  case.  A law  had  been  passed  in  1893, 
giving  women  and  girls  an  eight-hour  day  and  a 48-hour 
week,  but  two  years  afterwards  it  was  declared  imcon- 
stitutional  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  Illinois.  This  put 
legislation  back  for  more  than  ten  years. 

A new  stage  was  reached  when  in  1908  came  the  test 
case  in  which  the  Oregon  women’s  ten-hour  law  came  before 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States.  The  chief  agent 
in  making  this  test  case  possible  was  the  National  Con- 
sumers’ League  of  which  Miss  Josephine  Goldmark  was 
research  secretary.  Miss  Goldmark  and  Mr.  Louis  D. 
Brandeis  (now  Mr.  Justice  Brandeis  on  the  bench  of  the 
United  States  Supreme  Court)  prepared  a brief  in  which 
the  law  was  defended  as  a health  measure,  the  importance 
of  woman’s  maternal  function  being  dwelt  upon. 

The  same  arguments  maintained  in  the  year  1910  the 
validity  of  the  Illinois  ten-ho\ir  law  for  women.  Since 
then,  in  1915,  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  on  similar 
grounds  declared  constitutional  the  California  eight-hour 
law. 

The  position  of  the  woman  worker  as  regards  what  has 
been  known  as  the  “right  to  leisure”  can  be  seen  in  the 
table,  which  gives  a rough  smnmary  of  legislation  in  exist- 
ence in  March,  1923,  touching  weekly  hours,  daily  hours, 
prohibition  of  night  work,  of  home  work,  one  day  rest  in 
seven  and  the  minimum  wage  and  mothers’  pensions.  The 


INDUSTRIAL  LEGISLATION 


131 


table  gives  the  general  idea  only  of  the  state  laws.  No  two 
states  are  exactly  the  same  and  not  one  has  all  the  legal 
protections  on  its  statute  books.  The  legislation  affects 
in  some  states  manufacturing  operations  only;  in  others, 
all  workers  except  in  specified  industries  or  occupations, 
such  as  graduate  nurses  or  those  employed  in  the  canning 
industries  or  omits  by  default  domestic  employes  or  agri- 
cultural workers.  Night  work  may  be  prohibited  from  ten 
to  six,  from  eleven  to  six,  from  ten  to  seven,  after  six  or 
after  nine.  The  prohibition  of  home  work  may  or  may  not 
apply  to  immediate  members  of  the  family;  may  apply 
to  the  making  and  finishing  of  garments,  or  may  equally 
forbid  home  work  on  the  making  of  cigars  and  cigarettes; 
or  may  consistently  banish  from  the  home  such  occupa- 
tions as  nut  picking  or  the  handling  of  other  articles  of 
food. 

The  minimum  wage  decrees  have  ranged  anywhere  from 
$8.50  in  1915  to  $18.00  in  1921.  The  wage  decrees  vary 
from  state  to  state  and  from  occupation  to  occupation. 
They  rose  with  the  cost  of  living  during  the  war  and  in 
1922  they  began  to  drop.  The  minimum  wage  in  different 
trades  is  usually  determined  by  a wage  board  in  that  trade, 
although  sometimes  a state  industrial  commission  may 
have  power  to  interpret  the  law  and  declare  by  formal 
decision  what  the  legal  wage  shall  be,  and  to  what  indus- 
tries it  shall  apply.  In  two  states  the  law  has  prescribed 
a flat  rate. 

The  mother’s  pension  is  in  Iowa  and  Vermont  but  $2.00 
per  week  for  one  child;  in  Florida  and  Nevada  $25.00  a 
month.  In  some  states  only  the  widowed  mother  can  re- 
ceive such  aid.  Elsewhere,  those  who  are  divorced,  or 
whose  husbands  are  in  prison  or  who  have  deserted  their 
families.  One  year  or  five  of  residence  in  the  county  may 
be  a necessary  preliminary  to  obtaining  a pension.  Citizen- 


132  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


TABLE* 

SHOWING  INDU8TBIAL  LEGISLATION  AFFECTING  WOMEN 


MARCH,  1923 


State 

Hours 

daily 

Hours 

weekly 

One 
day 
rest  in 
seven 

Night 

work 

laws 

Home 

work 

laws 

Min- 

imum 

wage 

laws 

Moth- 

ers’ 

pen- 

sion 

Alabama 

Alaska 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yea 

Arkansas 

9 

8 

8 

8 

10 

10 

8 

54 

56 

48 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

Arizona 

California 

yes 

yes 

Colorado 

Connecticut 

55 

55 

48 

yes 

yes 

yes 

Delaware 

yes 

yes 

Dist.  of  Columbia. 
Florida 

yes 

yes 

Georgia 

10 

9 

10 

60 

Idaho 

}'es 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

Illinois 

yes 

yes 

Indiana 

yes 

Iowa 

Xansas 

9 

10 

10 

9 

10 

9 

9 

9 

10 

9 

8 

9 

8 

lOM 

10 

49}^ 

60 

60 

54 

60 

48 

54 

54 

60 

54 

yes 

yes 

yes 

Kentucky 

Louisiana 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

Maine 

Maryland 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

Massachusetts .... 
Michigan 

yes 

5’es 

yes 

Minnesota 

Mississippi 

Missouri 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yea 

yes 

Montana 

Nebraska 

54 

56 

54 

54 

yes 

Nevada 

New  Hampshire. . . 
New  Jersey 

yes 

yes 

yes 

INDUSTRIAL  LEGISLATION 


133 


State 

Hours 

daily 

Hours 

weekly 

New  Mexico 

8 

New  York 

9 

54 

North  Carolina . . . 

11 

60 

North  Dakota .... 

8H 

48 

Ohio 

9 

50 

Oklahoma 

9 

54 

Oregon 

9 

48 

Pennsylvania 

10 

54 

Rhode  Island 

10 

54 

South  Carolina 

10 

55 

South  Dakota.  . . . 

10 

Tennessee 

10}^ 

57 

Texas 

9 

54 

Utah 

8 

48 

Vermont 

10}4 

56 

Virginia 

10 

60 

Washington 

8 

West  Virginia 

Wisconsin 

10 

55 

Wyoming 

10 

60 

Porto  Rico 

8 

48 

One 
day 
rest  in 
seven 


yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 


yes 


Night 

work 

laws 


yes 


yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 


yes 


yes 


Home 

work 

laws 


yes 


yes 


yes 


yes 


yes 


Min- 

imum 

wage 

laws 


yes 


yes 


yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 


Moth- 

ers’ 

pen- 

sion 


yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 


yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 

yes 


* It  is  impossible  to  summarize  accurately  the  state  industrial  leg- 
islation for  the  reason  that  so  many  of  the  laws  apply  to  certain 
occupations  only  or  admit  of  certain  exceptions.  A state  may  have 
a ten-hour  law  and  yet  be  so  limited  in  its  application  that  students 
and  statisticians  will  differ  as  to  whether  the  state  ought  to  be  listed 
as  a ten-hour  law  state  or  not.  The  summary  here  lists  the  states 
according  to  the  interpretation  of  the  Women’s  Bureau.  Each  state 
is  listed  according  to  the  hours  that  apply  to  the  greatest  number  of 
women.  The  table  has  been  corrected  up  to  March  1,  1923.  Read- 
ers who  wish  to  know  exactly  what  are  the  laws  of  each  particular 
state  in  accurate  detail  are  referred  to  Bulletin  No.  16  of  the 
Women’s  Bureau,  Washington,  D.  C.  1921. 


134  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


ship  or  pending  citizenship  may  be  a condition.  It  may 
seem  strange  to  classify  mothers’  pensions  as  industrial 
legislation,  but  there  is  no  law  which  can  more  radically 
affect  the  economic  condition  of  the  married  working 
woman  with  children  for  whom  she  has  to  provide  a home 
and  up-bringing. 

The  ultimate  aim  of  all  industrial  legislation  is  to  stand- 
ardize industry.  In  every  case  where  this  is  attempted 
by  legislation  it  will  be  found  that  an  employer  here  and 
there,  sometimes  many  employers,  with  either  a wise  re- 
gard for  their  own  interest,  a conscientious  sense  of  re- 
sponsibility towards  their  workers,  a civic  spirit,  or  a 
wholesome  liking  for  efficient  and  orderly  methods  of  work 
to  be  carried  on  by  healthy,  intelligent  and  competent 
workers,  have  already  put  into  practice  the  improvement 
demanded  by  workers  in  other  plants.  Such  men  usually 
approve  of,  and  sometimes  actively  support  and  advocate 
legalizing  such  standards.  They  know  that  they  are  often 
inconvenienced  and  embarrassed  by  the  poor  employer 
whose  sole  idea  of  economy  is  to  have  the  burden  of  saved 
expense  borne  by  the  workers.  Although  in  the  end  shorter 
hours  and  good  working  conditions  are  found  to  be  the 
truest  economy,  still  the  incompetent  or  conscienceless 
competitor  can  for  a time  do  a great  deal  of  harm  by  de- 
grading a whole  industry  or  interfering  with  the  market 
for  its  products.  The  intelligent  employer  is  also  the  one 
who  recognizes  that  poor  standards  in  any  one  industry',  in 
the  industries  of  the  state,  in  the  industries  of  the  entire 
country,  react  upon  the  general  competence  of  all  labor; 
therefore  raising  standards  of  well-being  generally  will 
necessarily  result  in  better  and  more  efficient  production. 

In  estimating  the  proportion,  it  may  be  of  wages  or  of 
leisure  or  of  expense  in  sanitary  equipment  that,  as  is  com- 
monly said,  the  trade  will  bear,  it  is  usual  to  take  into 


INDUSTRIAL  LEGISLATION 


136 


account  three  parties,  the  employer,  the  worker  and  the 
consumer.  The  consumer  has  to  be  studied,  for  if  prices 
rise  above  what  he  can  pay,  or  thinks  he  can  pay,  he 
economizes  in  some  way  or  carries  his  purchasing  power 
elsewhere.  The  consumer  can  also  be  educated  up  to  in- 
telligent buying  and  his  sense  of  responsibility  stimulated 
through  the  distribution  of  literature  on  standards,  bad 
and  good,  of  factory  employment,  of  white  lists  and  of 
union  lists. 

Besides  these  three  parties  to  the  industrial  bargain,  there 
is  a fourth  which  includes  them  all,  of  which  we  all  are 
members.  That  fourth  party  is  termed,  perhaps  none  too 
explicitly,  the  community  or  society.  Upon  the  community 
all  industrial  wrongs  and  evils  react;  it  may  not  be  today,, 
the  penalty  may  be  borne  by  a succeeding  generation,  but 
eventually  it  has  to  be  paid.  Fimther,  if  the  community 
has  to  suffer  in  a weak  and  inferior  citizenship,  or  in  the 
undermining  of  the  social  structure,  with  the  commimity 
also  rests  the  hope  of  better  things,  the  determination  to 
embody  in  practice  in  the  coming  years  nobler  ideals. 

When  we  apply  these  considerations  to  the  question  of 
legislation,  especially  for  women,  we  begin  to  understand 
why  it  is  that  so  much  of  our  humane  legislation  has  taken 
this  form.  Taking  them  all  round,  a large  proportion 
of  the  women  workers  are  young,  even  under  age.  Girls 
go  into  industry  quite  as  young  as  boys,  and  they  pass  out' 
of  it,  at  least  as  regular  workers,  very  much  earlier.  That 
so  many  young  married  women  remain  in  industry,  that 
so  many  older  married  women  with  children  work  for 
wages  regular  or  intermittently,  does  not  do  away  with 
the  fact  that  the  average  age  of  the  women  workers,  espe- 
cially in  factories,  is  at  any  given  time  notably  lower  than 
that  of  the  men. 

Girls  proverbially  have  less  chance  of  training;  in  their 


136  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


earlier  working  years  they  are  usually  employed  on  any 
unskilled  job  they  can  get.  This  makes  their  work  of  less 
market  value,  for  the  employer  can  always  get  more  girls, 
who  in  a few  weeks  will  be  the  equals  of  those  he  loses,  so 
that  in  the  close  competition  for  any  job  the  girl  has  very 
little  bargaining  power.  Girls  and  women  of  all  ages  are 
paid  less  for  the  same  work.  “Only  a girl.”  “A  very 
good  wage  for  a girl.”  “She  does  good  work  for  a woman.” 
All  these  everyday  phrases  bear  witness  to  the  too  com- 
mon acceptance  of  a lower  wage  standard  for  the  girl. 

It  is  as  a reaction  from  intolerable  overwork,  inadequate 
pay,  underbidding  by  the  underpaid,  and  the  consequent 
utter  waste  of  women’s  lives,  that  has  come  the  movement 
toward  the  standardizing  of  women’s  "work  in  the  industries. 
It  surely  had  been  a better  and  a finer  way,  had  it  been 
possible,  to  secure  honorable  and  self-respecting  conditions 
<of  service  through  the  organized  power  of  the  women 
workers  themselves.  In  every  trade  strongly  enough  or- 
ganized even  locally,  some  such  raising  of  standards  has 
been  the  unfailing  result  of  organization.  What  we  win 
for  ourselves  we  ever  value  more  highly  and  hold  more 
securely.  But  it  would  be  inhuman  to  postpone  the  day 
of  improvement  until  trade  unionism  among  women  becomes 
so  general  that  they  can  act  through  the  power  of  numbers. 
It  is  trade  union  women  who  have  most  ardently  and  effi- 
^ ciently  championed  the  cause  of  their  weaker  sisters.  Fur- 
thermore, it  is  the  trade  unions  and  trade  union  members, 
men  and  women  alike,  who  have  been  most  industrious  in 
securing  appropriations  to  enforce  laws,  in  reporting  vio- 
lations and  in  seeing  that  laws  are  obeyed. 

The  arguments  for  legislation  and  against  legislation 
have  a singular  monotony  in  whatever  state  the  bills  are 
introduced.  The  reasoning  is  of  much  the  same  complexion 
whether  the  subject  of  discussion  be  shorter  hoxirs,  or  pro- 


INDUSTRIAL  LEGISLATION 


137 


hibition  of  night  work,  or  a minimum  wage,  except  that 
in  the  latter  case  budgets  come  into  consideration,  and 
the  price  of  a skirt  and  the  cost  of  a meal  and  what  allow- 
ance should  be  made  to  meet  possible  sickness  or  satisfy 
the  human  desire  for  recreation  have  to  be  gone  into  in  con- 
siderable detail. 

We  will  suppose  that  a familiar  legislative  hearing  is  on; 
the  first  objection  always  is  that  the  trade  cannot  afford 
the  cost  of  the  reform ; it  will  be  such  a loss  to  the  employer 
that  he  would  have  to  close  up  his  business  and  go  out 
of  the  state.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  in  spite  of  this  oft- 
repeated  and  familiar  threat  there  is  not  on  record  any 
single  case  in  which  an  employer  has  been  driven  out  of 
his  state  by  any  legislation  whatever  on  behalf  of  his 
women  employes.  Not  infrequently  the  much  dreaded 
competition  of  another  state  free  from  such  burdensome 
regulations  has  turned  out  on  examination  to  be  a veritable 
bogey.  A manufacturer  of  woven  cotton  goods  in  a state 
which  turns  out  only  the  finest  cotton  product  will  dra- 
matically express  his  fear  of  the  competition  of  his  fellow 
manufacturer  in  a state  turning  out  coarse  cottons  or  even 
broad  silks  and  ribbons.  If  limitation  of  hours  is  sought, 
the  easy  reply  is  that  of  course  wages  would  be  lowered, 
in  spite  of  the  invariable  experience  of  every  country,  state 
or  trade  that  has  tried  it,  that  earnings,  possibly  after  some 
oscillations,  inevitably  adapt  themselves  to  the  new  ar- 
rangement. A favorite  plea  is  that  the  girls  like  to  work 
long  hours,  and  occasionally  a poor  overworked  creature 
is  dragged  to  a hearing  to  confirm  her  employer’s  conten- 
tion. Or  else  the  lawyer  of  a manufacturers’  association, 
ready  with  many  cunning  devices  and  verbal  quibbles 
which  few  employers  would  themselves  stoop  to  use,  will 
produce  wonderful  petitions  from  (of  course  unorganized) 
girls,  expressing  perfect  contentment  and  satisfaction  with 


138  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


things  as  they  are.  A favorite  objection  made  by  restau- 
rant keepers,  and  in  small  towns,  of  storekeepers,  to  any 
disturbance  of  their  arrangements  is  that  the  work  is  not 
continuous,  that  a girl  can  sit  down  when  she  likes,  or 
that  she  has  three  hours  off  in  the  afternoon.  Three  hours 
off  and  no  place  to  go,  and  no  sense  of  being  at  leism-e, 
for  her  evening's  work  is  still  ahead  of  her  and  perhaps  a 
long  car  ride  before  she  reaches  her  home  in  the  late  night 
hours. 

Arguments  in  favor,  too,  are  of  one  general  trend,  ex- 
cept that  nowadays  they  strike  an  increasingly  cheerful 
note.  It  is  all  the  time  becoming  easier  to  prove  that  the 
state  backward  in  this  kind  of  legislation  is  more  or  less 
backward  in  other  ways.  The  enormous  bulk  of  e\’idence 
both  in  Europe  and  at  home  during  the  war  showed  by 
evidence  not  to  be  disputed  that  long  hours  and  poor  wages 
were  not  even  productive  of  increased  output,  but  notori- 
ously lowered  it.  The  principle  of  the  short  workday  has 
been  recognized  by  the  United  States  Government  and 
by  more  than  half  the  states  through  the  provision  of  an 
eight-hour  day  for  the  men  in  their  employ.  A development 
which  could  hardly  have  been  foreseen  forms  nevertheless 
a very  powerful  reason  why  hours  should  be  shortened  by 
law.  That  is,  that  such  a large  proportion  of  employers, 
especially  in  large  cities,  are  running  their  factories  or 
keeping  open  their  stores  a far  shorter  time  than  the  maxi- 
mum permitted  by  law.  In  Illinois,  for  instance,  although 
women  may  legally  be  asked  to  work  70  hours  a week,  the 
eight  or  nine  hour  day  is  the  general  rule  in  the  principal 
industrial  center,  Chicago,  and  the  Saturday  afternoon 
holiday  extremely  common. 

The  modern  discovery  of  the  literally  poisonous  effect 
of  over-fatigue  upon  the  human  system  was  first  brought 
to  the  notice  of  the  general  public  in  this  covmtry  by  the 


INDUSTRIAL  LEGISLATION 


139 


National  Consumers’  League  through  Josephine  Goldmark 
and  Louis  D.  Brandeis.  The  “toxin  of  fatigue”  became  a 
familiar  phrase,  and  employers,  lawyers,  workers  and  social 
students  were  powerfully  impressed  by  its  dangers. 

The  arguments  urged  why  conservation  of  health  is  most 
important  in  the  case  of  women  are  two.  The  first  is,  that 
women  are  physically  weaker  and  more  readily  injured 
by  fatigue  than  men;  the  second  and  much  the  more  con- 
vincing turns  aside,  as  it  were,  from  the  individual  woman 
and  sees  in  her  not  merely  the  worker  but  the  mother  of 
the  race,  the  creator  of  the  next  generation.  This  is  an 
entirely  new  point  of  view.  As  a matter  of  public  con- 
cern, the  one  striking  fact  that  has  stood  out  in  all  recent 
decisions  by  the  courts  on  industrial  legislation  for  women 
has  been  that  it  has  upheld  the  police  power  of  the  state 
to  make  and  enforce  such  laws  as  health  measures,  and  as 
existing  in  the  interest  of  the  race.  Said  the  Supreme  Court, 
“as  healthy  mothers  are  essential  to  vigorous  offspring  the 
physical  well-being  of  women  becomes  an  object  of  public 
interest  and  care  in  order  to  preserve  the  strength  and  vigor 
of  the  race.” 

This  is  indeed  an  adapting  to  modern  conditions  of  the 
long  accepted  idea  that  the  feminine  sex,  as  the  transmitter 
and  the  guardian  of  life,  requires  protection  as  long  as  pro- 
tection is  possible  from  obvious  and  pressing  danger.  This 
is  why  women  in  a general  way  in  pioneering  days  were 
not  expected  to  undertake  the  roughest  occupations  or  to 
face  the  risks  of  savage  warfare.  It  is  the  reason  today 
why  in  a shipwreck  it  is  “woman  and  children  first.”  The 
principle  therefore  comes  down  to  us  by  honest  inheritance, 
and  is  no  mere  gesture  of  an  empty  chivalry.  When  the 
continuance  of  the  race  is  at  stake  this  instinctive  feeling 
will  guard  the  woman  and  her  offspring,  or  her  offspring- 
to-be. 


140  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


There  has,  however,  been  a long  interregnum  during  which 
this  sound  creed  was  overlooked,  at  length  forgotten,  and 
allowed  to  slip  into  oblivion.  It  is  so  diflBcult  for  human 
beings  to  adapt  their  moral  codes,  or  even  their  unconcious 
sense  of  the  need  of  race  preservation,  to  changed  social 
conditions.  The  very  man  who  would,  to  save  a woman 
on  board  ship,  yield  her  his  place  in  the  lifeboat  and  calmly 
step  back  himself  to  almost  certain  death,  will  today  often 
fail  to  recognize,  either  as  an  employer,  a fellow  worker  or 
a citizen,  that  machine  industry  is  endangering  the  life 
and  the  health  of  women  as  much  as  could  the  overwhelm- 
ing wave.  The  coirrts  in  reminding  the  community  that  its 
women  citizens  are  the  conservers  of  the  race,  have  but 
translated  the  old  phrase  into  a modem  reading  and  set  it 
up  as  a standard  to  be  adhered  to  under  modern  conditions. 

One  indirect  result  of  the  limitation  of  hours  is  seen 
notably  in  the  seasonal  trades  which  employ  so  many 
women.  As  long  as  women  and  girls  can  be  legally  worked 
long  hours  the  management  tends  to  take  all  the  orders  it 
can  get,  to  be  executed  within  any  time  demanded,  no  mat- 
ter how  short  the  notice,  with  the  natural  consequence 
that  orders  presently  slack  off,  and  the  girl,  tired  out  after 
the  rush  season,  but  with  no  money  to  tide  over  a period 
of  unemployment,  is  laid  off  to  manage  as  best  she  may, 
either  until  she  can  place  herself  in  some  other  job  or  until, 
with  the  oncoming  of  the  busy  season,  her  old  trade  calls 
for  her  again. 

Behind  and  beneath  all  effort  to  pass  an  eight-hour  law, 
to  establish  a minimum  wage,  or  in  any  way  to  protect  any 
workers,  lies  this  high  aim ; the  establishment  either  by  the 
co-operative  action  of  the  workers  or  the  intelligent  and 
educated  consent  of  the  community,  of  such  standards  for 
industry  as  shall  insure  that  the  human  beings,  their  per- 
sonality and  their  possible  abilities  shall  be  considered  of 


INDUSTRIAL  LEGISLATION 


141 


at  least  equal  importance  with  the  goods  they  turn  out. 
Men  in  great  numbers  have  striven  to  attain  these  ends 
through  organization,  but  their  efforts  have  been  quite 
wisely  and  practically  expressed  through  separate  organi- 
zations and  have  been  concentrated  upon  the  freeing  of 
separate  groups,  as  the  need  of  each  group  became  more 
pressing,  or  its  power  to  make  those  needs  known  grew. 
The  piecemeal  character  of  our  legislation  is  quoted  as  a 
proof  of  inconsistency.  It  furnishes  an  equally  good  argu- 
ment for  the  universality  of  the  need  of  the  legislation,  no 
matter  through  what  channel  it  can  be  obtained.  Men 
have  secured  relief  in  groups  and  they  wiL  probably  go 
on  obtaining  legislative  relief  in  groups  and  for  new  groups. 

Although  men  have  in  this  country  mostly  depended 
upon  organization  to  win  improvement  in  their  working 
standards,  they  have  not  hesitated  to  make  use  of  legisla- 
tion when  that  seemed  the  better  plan.  This  is  true  for 
instance,  of  the  federal  employes.  Every  letter-carrier  in 
the  country  enjoys  an  eight-hour  day,  by  law.  Most  muni- 
cipal workers,  including  the  day  laborer,  work  but  eight 
hours  a day.  Men  have  been  successful  in  obtaining  legisla- 
tion when  the  group  was  powerful  enough  and  sufficiently 
unanimous  and  determined  to  obtain  a hearing  for  their  re- 
quest. There  seems  to  be  no  particular  reason,  there- 
fore, why  women  cannot  quite  reasonably,  and  making  no 
apology  or  excuse,  ask  that  they  be  legislated  for  as  a group, 
not  necessarily  as  a sex. 

The  main  difference  regarding  the  woman  worker  is  that 
on  account  of  her  many  handicaps,  youth,  inexperience, 
poor  training  and  poorer  pay,  she  is  rarely  able  to  carry 
the  whole  burden  of  making  the  fight  herself.  She  then 
very  naturally  accepts  the  aid  of  other  women  whose 
group  interest  and  sympathy  with  her  difficulties  is  awak- 
ened and  keen. 


142  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


Industrial  legislation  for  women  carries  in  its  train  some- 
times a secondary  result.  Setting  standards  for  women  is 
setting  a pace.  The  higher  standards  of  cleanliness  and 
conveniences  of  equipment  that  attract  and  keep  women 
in  a well-arranged  factory,  also  set  an  example  to  the 
men  workers,  and  when  a new  plant  is  opened  men  also 
reap  the  advantage.  If  an  eight-hour  law  sends  the  women 
home  at  five  or  half-past  five,  it  will  not  pay  to  run  the 
power  and  keep  the  factory  open  for  another  hour  or  two 
just  to  make  use  of  the  factory’s  force  of  men,  since  in  so 
many  cases  the  hands  of  both  men  and  women  are  needed 
in  turning  out  a single  finished  article. 


Chapter  VIII 


THE  MINIMUM  WAGE 

Regulation  of  wages  is  now  no  new  matter,  but  in  former 
times  regulation  was  directed  toward  preventing  wages 
from  rising  too  high,  and  there  was  no  thought  of  fixing  a 
minimum  which  should  serve  as  a dyke  against  unregulated 
competition  and  so  prevent  the  remuneration  of  the  laborer 
from  sinking  too  low. 

The  first  effort  in  that  direction  was  Samuel  Whitbread’s 
“Bill  for  Regulating  the  Wages  of  Labor,”  introduced  into 
the  House  of  Commons  in  1795,  when  it  was  supported  by 
Fox  and  opposed  by  the  younger  Pitt.  At  that  time  the 
old  “combination  laws”  were  in  force  forbidding  any  organ- 
ization of  the  workers.  The  bill  failed  to  pass,  nor  was 
any  other  legislation  enacted  to  relieve  the  extreme  poverty 
of  that  time.  Starvation  wages  were  supplemented  out  of 
the  poor  relief  funds  by  magistrates,  who,  however  they 
theorized  against  trade  unions  or  against  the  raising  of 
wages  by  law,  were  yet  human  and  could  not  ignore  the 
extremity  of  suffering  which  they  saw  before  them.* 

Just  a hundred  years  later,  in  the  young  British  colony 
of  Victoria,  Australia,  there  was  observable  increasing 
poverty  in  certain  of  the  city  trades.  In  1895  some  of  the 
residents  of  Melbourne  could  no  longer  endure  the  situa- 

♦“The  Village  Labourer  of  1760  to  1832,”  by  Mr.  and  Mrs.  J.  L. 
Hammond,  quoted  by  Edith  Abbott  in  lAje  and  Labor,  January, 
1915. 


143 


144  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


tion  without  protest.  They  formed  an  Anti-Sweating 
League,  with  Mr.  Samuel  Mauger  as  chairman.  As  a 
result  of  what  the  league  unearthed,  public  opinion  was 
thoroughly  aroused,  especially  as  to  the  revelations  touch- 
ing the  lives  led  by  poor  sewing  women  working  in  their 
own  homes. 

Stories  differ  as  to  just  how  it  happened  that  minimum 
wage  laws  and  wage  boards  were  proposed  to  the  legisla- 
ture. One  tale  runs  that  Mr.  Alexander  Peacock,  the 
Chief  Secretary,  had  been  so  impressed  by  New  Zealand 
arbitration  courts  that  he  worked  out  this  different  plan. 
Another  story  has  it  that  Mr.  Peacock  one  day,  in  his  own 
district  of  Castlemaine  observed  the  gold  miners  at  the 
head  of  the  shaft,  sitting  over  their  mid-day  meal  in  the 
open  air  of  that  mild  climate  discussing  with  the  foreman 
a desired  raise  in  wages.  He  went  away  with  a new  and 
challenging  idea.  If,  he  thought,  one  group  of  workmen 
can  discuss  wages  with  their  employer’s  representative, 
why  cannot  all? 

In  1896  minimum  wage  legislation  was  introduced.  It 
was  at  first  proposed  to  apply  the  law  to  women  only. 
But  finally  it  was  made  to  cover  all  employes,  of  either 
sex,  in  the  boot-making  and  baking  trade,  in  most  divisions 
of  the  sewing  trades,  and  the  furniture  trade. 

The  act  was  temporary  only,  but  it  has  been  enacted 
and  re-enacted,  and  always  with  increased  scope,  till  in 
1915  there  were  no  fewer  than  135  wage  boards  covering 
as  many  different  trades ; trades  as  varied  as  cigar  makers, 
confectioners,  saddlers,  wood-workers,  printers,  photo- 
graphers and  even  undertakers. 

Up  to  1914  many  studies  had  been  made  of  the  Victorian 
wage-board  plan,  and  it  was  fairly  generally  agreed  that 
it  had  accomplished  much  of  what  it  set  out  to  do.  Perhaps 
the  legislation  was  not  the  cause  of  an  increase  in  factories. 


THE  MINIMUM  WAGE 


145 


but  it  at  least  had  not  prevented  development.  With  its 
establishment  were  correlated  shorter  hours.  Other  trades, 
not  covered,  had  not  increased  wages  at  the  same  rate  and 
the  workers  in  these  trades  still  had  to  face  the  increased 
cost  of  living. 

In  accordance  with  the  method  of  administration,  if  a 
request  is  made  by  a group  of  either  employers  or  employes,  ^ 
it  has  to  be  brought  before  the  legislature  and  if  approved, 
the  trade  is  brought  under  a wage  board.  The  next  step 
is  the  nomination  of  representatives  by  both  employers  and 
employes.  These  representatives  select  their  own  chair- 
men. The  board  thus  constituted,  is  left  to  work  out  a 
decision,  or  as  it  is  called,  “a  determination.”  It  may 
take  a long  time  and  many  meetings  and  much  discussion 
to  arrive  at  an  agreement.  When  it  has  been  reached, 
it  is  sent  on  to  the  Minister  of  Labor,  becomes  a part  of 
the  Factory  Act,  and  is  administered  by  factory  inspectors. 
As  Professor  Hammond,  who  studied  the  whole  matter  on 
the  spot,  says,  “Attention  must  once  more  be  called  to  the 
fact  that  this  whole  system  is  merely  a compulsory  collec- 
tive bargaining  ...  I do  not  hesitate  to  say,  however, 
that  whether  or  not  American  employers  or  laborers  like 
the  wage-board  plan,  depends  upon  whether  or  not  they 
favor  collective  bargaining.” 

The  Arbitration  Courts  of  New  Zealand  were  established 
to  prevent  strikes ; the  wage  boards  of  Victoria  were  planned 
to  abolish  sweating  and  to  raise  and  standardize  living  con- 
ditions. 

Since  the  beginning  of  the  war  in  1914  it  has  been  dif- 
ficult to  draw  inferences  as  to  how  minimum  wage  boards 
are  functioning  today,  but  according  to  latest  account  in 
the  Commonwealth  Year  Book  for  1918  minimiim  wage 
legislation  has  weathered  the  tremendous  industrial  shocks 


146  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


of  the  last  seven  years  from  which  Australia  in  common 
with  all  other  countries  has  suffered. 

In  Great  Britain  an  agitation  against  sweated  industries 
carried  on  by  the  Anti-Sweating  Committee,  followed  up 
by  a parliamentary  inquiry,  brought  about  in  1909  a law 
setting  up  trade  boards,  as  they  were  called,  in  four  of  the 
worst  paid  trades,  chain-making  (by  hand) , machine-made 
lace  curtain  finishing,  box  making  and  . . . tailoring. 
Reports  upon  these  trades,  also  prewar,  show  that  wages 
were  raised,  in  some  instances  as  much  as  100  per  cent  or 
more.  Publicity  was  given  to  actual  conditions,  and  thus 
the  poorer  employers  were  educated  to  learn  from  the 
experience  of  the  more  efficient,  that  high  wages  did  not 
necessarily  mean  high  cost. 

The  act  was  afterwards  extended  to  include  some  other 
trades,  such  as  the  preserving  of  fruit  and  vegetables, 
candy-making,  shirt-making,  cotton  embroidery  and  the 
making  of  hollow  ware.  A more  startling  application  of 
the  principle  was  to  the  coal  miners  in  1911  in  an  emer- 
gency measure  after  the  coal  strike  of  that  year.  The 
industrial  crises  which  have  come  in  the  train  of  the  war 
leave  us  without  sufficient  classified  information  on  which 
to  base  an  interpretation  of  the  effect  of  wage  regulation 
in  Great  Britain,  as  it  stands  today. 

Mary  Macarthur  came  from  England  in  1909  as  dele- 
gate to  the  second  biennial  convention  of  the  National 
Women’s  Trade  Union  League,  and  presented  the  case  of 
minimum  wage  legislation  in  her  own  country.  The  Con- 
vention thereupon  included  in  the  League’s  legislative 
program  “a  legal  minimum  wage  in  sweated  trades.” 

The  Boston  Women’s  Trade  Union  League  took  up  the 
question.  The  co-operation  of  other  organizations  was 
secured.  A bill  was  passed  creating  a commission  of 
inquiry  into  the  wages  of  women  and  minors,  with  the 


THE  MINIMUM  WAGE 


147 


view  of  establishing  wage  boards.  Its  report  resulted  in 
the  Massachusetts  Act  of  1912. 

Mrs.  Florence  Kelley  attended  the  International  Con- 
ference of  Consumers'  Leagues  in  1908,  where  the  idea  of 
standardized  wages  was  put  before  her.  Much  impressed, 
she  used  her  influence  here,  till  it  was  made  part  of  the 
platform  of  the  National  Consumers’  League  in  1910.  In 
1911  bills  for  minimum  wage  boards  were  introduced  in 
three  states,  Minnesota,  Massachusetts  and  Wisconsin.  In 
Minnesota,  through  the  Rev.  John  A.  Ryan,  a member 
of  the  minimum  wage  board  committee  of  the  National 
Consumers’  League;  in  Wisconsin  through  the  State  Con- 
sumers’ League. 

In  comparing  American  discussions  on  this  subject  and 
summing  up  American  legislation,  there  are  certain  distinct 
differences  to  be  noted  in  our  own  minimum  wage  laws, 
whether  passed  or  only  proposed,  in  this  country,  from  those 
in  operation  elsewhere.  In  both  Victoria  and  Great  Britain, 
the  object  has  been  to  abolish  sweating  and  to  set  standards 
of  wages  for  all  employers.  Men  as  well  as  women  have 
bedn  covered.  In  this  country,  owing  to  the  peculiar 
rigidity  of  the  United  States  Constitution,  there  have  been 
many  setbacks  in  the  way  of  standardizing  either  hours  or 
wages.  “Freedom  of  contract”  was  successfully  invoked 
in  the  Jacobs  case  (1885)  to  invalidate  the  New  York  state 
law  forbidding  the  night  work  of  women,  and  later  on,  in 
Illinois,  under  the  Ritchie  decision,  the  eight-hour  law  for 
women  similarly  came  under  the  fatal  ban  of  being  un- 
constitutional. 

When  the  advocates  of  industrial  legislation  took  heart 
of  grace  once  more,  in  the  early  years  of  the  present  cen- 
tury, they  pursued  a somewhat  changed  policy.  Mr.  Louis 
D.  Brandeis  placed  the  arguments  for  such  legislation  on 
a fresh  basis ; the  law  should  be  put  in  as  a health  measure, 


148  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


so  important  to  the  welfare  of  the  community,  that  the 
police  power  of  the  state  might  be  used  to  override  the 
plea  of  supposed  “freedom”  of  contract.  The  first  test  of 
the  principle  was  made  when  Mr.  Brandeis,  as  counsel  for 
the  National  Consumers’  League  filed  the  brief  prepared 
by  Miss  Josephine  Goldmark  and  himself,  showing  the 
injurious  effects  of  overwork,  and  especially  its  effects  upon 
women  as  the  potential  mothers  of  the  race.  Ever  since, 
this  argument  has  had  force  with  the  state  courts  and 
with  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  whenever 
industrial  legislation  for  women  has  been  brought  before 
them. 

The  arguments  used  then  were  afterwards  elaborated 
and  developed  in  a second  brief  and  published  later  on 
in  book  form  under  the  title  “Fatigue  and  EflBciency”  by 
Josephine  Goldmark. 

Massachusetts  was  the  first  state  to  pass  a minimum 
wage  law  (1912).  Unfortunately,  as  passed  by  the  legisla- 
ture, it  carried  no  penalty,  and  the  supporters  of  minimum 
wage  legislation  were  greatly  perturbed  by  this  omission 
and  hesitated  as  to  whether  they  should  accept  the  half 
loaf  of  law  without  a penalty,  rather  than  the  alternative 
of  no  law  at  all.  All  that  could,  or  that  can  be  done  to 
bring  rebellious  employers  to  time  is  to  publish  a black  list 
of  their  names,  or,  as  a yet  milder  measure,  a white  list 
of  those  living  up  to  the  decree.  Yet  no  one  would  deny 
that  in  spite  of  all  its  weaknesses,  the  Massachusetts  law 
has  raised  standards  in  some  of  the  worst  paid  trades,  has 
educated  the  public  to  a better  understanding  of  industrial 
matters,  and  has  paved  the  way  to  minimum  wage  laws  of 
a more  effective  type  in  other  states.  One  result  of  such 
publicity  was  that  the  Progressive  Party  put  the  mini- 
mum wage  for  women  in  their  national  platform. 


THE  MINIMUM  WAGE 


149 


In  1913  forty  legislatures  were  in  session,  and  the  subject 
of  regulation  of  wages  for  low-paid  women  was  much 
discussed.  In  1913-14  commissions  were  appointed  to 
establish  wage  rates  in  California,  Colorado,  Minnesota, 
Nebraska,  Oregon,  Washington  and  Wisconsin,  while  there 
were  commissions  of  inquiry  in  Connecticut,  Illinois,  In- 
diana and  Ohio. 

At  date  of  writing,  March,  1923,  there  are  minimum  wage 
laws  for  women  in  Arizona,  Arkansas,  California,  Colorado, 
Kansas,  Massachusetts,  Minnesota,  North  Dakota,  Oregon, 
Utah,  Washington,  Wisconsin  and  the  District  of  Columbia. 

One  most  significant  decision  was  given  in  the  Oregon 
test  case,  which,  through  a divided  opinion  in  the  Federal 
Supreme  Court,  left  in  force  the  favorable  decision  of  the 
Oregon  Supreme  Court. 

In  defending  the  Oregon  minimum  wage  law,  Mr.  Bran- 
deis  pointed  out  that  no  employer  under  it  was  compelled 
to  employ  any  person,  but  the  law  did  forbid  his  employ- 
ing for  wages  a woman  who  receives  less  than  a living 
wage,  in  the  same  way  as  other  laws  would  prevent  him 
from  employing  as  an  engineer  someone  who  lacked  the 
necessary  training.  In  both  cases,  the  public  welfare  was 
the  primary  consideration.  He  argued  first,  that  low  wages 
lead  to  both  bad  health  and  immorality.  Second,  that 
women  need  protection  against  being  compelled  to  accept 
such  low  wages.  Third,  that  adequate  protection  can  be 
given  only  through  such  legislation. 

There  was  an  immense  mass  of  evidence  to  show  that 
poorly  paid  women  either  did  not  eat  enough,  or  had 
wretched  rooming  arrangements,  or  were  insufficiently 
clothed,  or  were  helped  out  from  improi>er  sources.  In  no 
case  could  they  lead  a human  life  with  a fair  share  of  hap- 
piness, leisure  and  recreation.  Leaving  the  woman  herself 


150  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


out  of  the  question,  this  condition  of  affairs  was  productive 
of  a train  of  evils  to  the  community. 

In  principle,  there  is  nothing  novel  in  such  legislation; 
night  work  prohibition,  limitation  of  hours,  the  safeguard- 
ing of  machinery,  these  all  affect  the  profits  of  the  industry, 
or  may  do  so. 

' The  Massachusetts  rate  for  candy  workers  in  1919  was 
$12.50.  Other  decrees,  made  in  1919  for  experienced  women 
workers,  were  the  following: 


District  of  Columbia,  mercantile  trade $16.50 

California,  aU  women  workers 13.50 

Washington,  all  women  workers 1320 

Massachusetts,  candy  occupation 12.50 

Kansas,  factories 11.00 


The  budget  plan  has  been  much  in  evidence,  and  how  a 
woman  may  spend  $4.00  a week  in  clothes  and  be  respect- 
ably dressed  is  shown  in  the  District  of  Columbia  budget 
for  women  in  the  mercantile  trades  (1920).* 

A great  many  advances  have  been  made  since  the  Massa- 
chusetts beginning;  for  instance,  providing  for  increase  of 
rates  in  proportion  to  increase  in  cost  of  living;  fixing  the 
value  of  meals  and  rooms  furnished  by  employer  in  such 
trades  as  those  of  the  waitress,  so  that  board  shall  not  be 
charged  to  the  girl  at  any  higher  rate  than  breakfast  20 
cents,  lunch  25  cents,  dinner  30  cents,  and  that  these  shall 
be  bona  fide  meals.f  The  employer  is  not  permitted  to 
make  any  deduction  on  account  of  tips,  which  may  or  may 
not  be  received  by  the  worker. 

* Minimum  Wage  Commissions  in  1920 — National  Consumers’ 
League. 

t These  are  the  California  rates. 


THE  MINIMUM  WAGE 


161 


3 

8 pair 

6 

1 

V2 

2 

2 

1 

4 pair 

2pair 

6 

3 

8 


Eats 

Coat 

Gloves 

Suit 

Waists 

Wool  skirt 

Wool  dress . . . , 
Summer  skirt . 
Wash  dresses . . 
Dress-up  waist 
Dress-up  dress . 

Shoes 

Stockings 

Corsets 

Corset  covers . , 
,Union  suits: 

Winter 

Summer. . . . , 
Under  skirts: 


Articles 


Cost  per 


year 


$15.00 

19.75 

4.50 

17.50 
12.00 
10.00 
10.00 

6.00 

16.00 

5.50 

14.75 

31.50 
5.00 

5.00 

6.00 


4.50 

5.00 


1 

2 

[l  doz. 
2 
4 

1 


Dark 

White 

Handkerchiefs . . . . 

Neckwear 

Aprons 

Kimono 

Night  gowns 

Umbrella 

Rubbers 

Purse 

Repairing  clothing 
Repairing  shoes . . . 
Miscellaneous. . . . , 


Total.  . . 
Less 


3.95 

3.00 
1.80 
1.25 

2.00 
1.00 

4.00 

1.50 

1.25 

3.00 

2.25 

2.50 

2.00 


$216.50 

8.50 


$208.00 


Total  per  week 

I 


$4.00 


152  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


Sundries  when  separated  into  details  make  another  illu- 
minating page: 


Items  of  classification 
employed  by  miniTnnm 
wage  commissions 

District  of  Columbia 
Printing  Trade  Budget, 
April,  1919 

Massachusetts 
Candy  Trade  Budget, 
June,  1919 

Per  week 

Per  week 

Car  fare  to  and  from  work 

$0.60 

$0.76 

Laundry 

.75 

.50 

Medical  care 

.17* 

.15* 

Dentistry 

.17* 

.15* 

Oculist 

.16* 

Religion 

.05* 

.11 

Charity 

.05* 

Insurance 

.18* 

.15* 

Savings 

.17* 

.15* 

Labor  organization .... 

.05* 

Magazines  and  news- 

papers 

.18 

Tuition  (or  self-im- 

provement) 

.10 

.15 

Stationery  and  postage!. 

.... 

.... 

Vacation 

.25 

.40 

Amusements 

.20 

.30 

Social  organization 

.05* 

Incidentals 

.20 

.25 

Total 

$3.15 

$3.25 

* When  two  items  were  lumped  under  one  heading,  as  “Religion 
and  Charity,”  the  allowance  is  divided,  and  one-half  entered  under 
each  heading. 

J “Stationery  and  Postage,”  employed  by  six  wage  conferences, 
Washington,  in  1914.  Tables  issued  by  Nat.  Consumers’  League. 


THE  MINIMUM  WAGE 


153 


Nebraska  was  once  on  the  list  of  states  with  a minimum 
wage  law,  although  the  law  was  never  enforced.  But  when 
the  laws  of  the  state  were  codified,  in  1919,  the  minimum 
wage  law  vanished  into  some  mental  waste  basket.  In 
Texas  a minimum  wage  law  was  passed.  But  its  opponents, 
finding  that  the  women  whom  it  would  chiefly  benefit  were 
the  exploited  Mexican  women  who  came  across  the  border, 
succeeded  in  having  it  repealed.  The  legislature  passed 
another  and  a very  poor  law.  The  Governor  signed  the 
repeal  of  the  first  law,  but  refused  to  sign  the  enactment 
of  the  second. 

The  Massachusetts  law  is  at  present  under  fire  of  criti- 
cism. Some  of  the  manufacturers  resented  the  fact  that 
the  award  affecting  their  trade  would,  if  obeyed,  make  a 
palpable  increase  in  their  payrolls,  and  having  decided  not 
to  pay  the  minimum  decreed  did  not  mind  their  refusal 
being  advertised.  They  therefore  took  advantage  of  a 
period  of  depression  to  attack  industrial  legislation. 

Mrs.  Dorothy  W.  Douglas  in  her  careful  analysis  of 
“American  Minimum  Wage  Laws  at  Work”  {American 
Economic  Review,  December,  1919),  speaks  of  “the  in- 
escapable fact”  that  of  the  fifteen  states  already  having 
minimum  wage  laws  upon  their  statute  books  only  three 
have  in  operation  rulings  that  are  really  satisfactory,  all 
of  the  others  being  what  she  scathingly  but  truly  terms  sub- 
standard. ^e  have  a long  road  to  travel  yet  before  the 
“living  wage”  for  all  is  an  accomplished  fact.  Meanwhile 
every  campaign  for  the  standardizing  of  wages,  every  mini- 
mum wage  law  that  is  enforced  helps  in  two  ways,  to  bring 
home  to  the  public  the  sense  of  responsibility  for  social 
conditions,  and  to  encourage  organization  among  the  work- 
ers, and  the  working  woman,  has,  after  all,  no  such 
protection  as  that  afforded  by  organization. 

It  will  be  news  to  most  that  minimum  wage  legislation 


154  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


has  during  the  last  five  years  made  rapid  progress  in 
Canada.  The  Journal  of  Political  Economy  for  April  22 
contains  an  article,  the  results  of  an  investigation  made  by 
Kathleen  Derry  and  Paul  H.  Douglas,  which  covers  the 
groimd  thoroughly  up  to  date.  Five  of  the  nine  provinces 
of  the  Dominion,  Alberta,  British  Columbia,  Manitoba, 
Ontario  and  Saskatchewan,  have  minimum  wage  regula- 
tion. Two  others.  Nova  Scotia  and  Quebec,  have  passed 
such  laws,  but  they  are  as  yet  inoperative,  leaving  only 
New  Brunswick  and  Prince  Edward  Island  without  such 
legislation.  Among  the  causes  given  by  the  writers  for 
this  remarkable  advance  are  these:  the  active  support  by 
the  leaders  of  the  Canadian  labor  movement;  the  absence 
of  any  constitutional  difiiculties  and  the  comparatively 
weak  position  of  business  interests  in  Canada.  The  begin- 
ning was  made  in  1917  in  the  Province  of  Alberta  when 
a clause  in  Factories  Act  provided  that  “No  person  shall 
be  employed  by  an  employer,  in  any  factory,  shop,  oflSce, 
or  ofiice  building  at  a wage  less  than  $1.50  per  shift,  except 
in  case  of  apprentices  who  may  be  paid  a wage  of  not  less 
than  $1  a shift.”  This  did  not  prove  satisfactory. 

Minimum  wage  legislation  did  not  really  come  into  force 
in  Alberta  until  after  the  provincial  election  of  1921,  when 
the  Farmer  Labor  party  came  into  power ; meanwhile  mini- 
mum wage  laws  were  passed  in  the  other  provinces  named. 

Among  the  most  important  characteristics  of  the  Cana- 
dian legislation  Mr.  Douglas  and  Mrs.  Derry  mention  the 
almost  universal  principle  that  the  wages  fixed  shall  be 
based  on  the  necessary  cost  of  Imng.  They  point  out  the 
nominal  inclusion  of  men  under  the  flat  rate  law  of  Alberta, 
and  that  the  Miners’  Minimiun  Wage  Act  of  British 
Columbia  opens  a legal  door  to  the  possible  governmental 
regulation  of  men’s  wages  in  Canada  in  the  future,  although 
there  seems  no  present  intention  of  including  them. 


THE  MINIMUM  WAGE 


155 


Next,  minimum  wage  boards  and  commissions  in  British 
Columbia,  Manitoba,  Nova  Scotia  and  Saskatchewan  have 
power  over  hours  and  conditions  of  labor  as  well  as  wages, 
while  those  of  Ontario  and  Quebec  have  jurisdiction  over 
wages  alone.  The  experience  of  British  Columbia  and 
Ontario,  however,  indicates  that  it  is  impossible  perma- 
nently to  consider  wages  apart  from  the  number  of  hours 
to  be  worked.  There  is  a greater  flexibility  in  making 
determinations  according  to  locality  and  industry.  The 
power  of  the  boards  themselves  is  very  great.  In  the  Que- 
bec law  power  is  given  to  the  Minimum  Wage  Commission 
not  only  to  reject  or  approve,  but  even  to  amend.  So  far 
as  the  experience  goes  of  the  only  province,  British  Co- 
lumbia, as  to  which  there  yet  exist  reliable  data,  the  wages 
of  the  more  poorly  paid  workers  have  been  leveled  up  to 
a higher  standard. 

The  laws  in  both  Manitoba  and  British  Columbia  en- 
deavor to  cope  with  the  problem  of  short  time  and  irregular 
employment,  not  the  fault  of  the  worker.  British  Columbia, 
for  instance,  provides  for  those  employed  in  places  of 
amusement,  higher  hourly  rates  for  those  employed  less 
than  thirty-six  hours,  than  for  those  employed  more.  In 
this  connection  the  writers  conclude: 

It  is  highly  desirable  . . . that  the  principle  of  forcing 
employers  to  stabilize  their  production  and  lessen  the  irregularity 
of  employment  should  be  further  developed  and  extended.  Ap- 
parently the  best  method  of  dealing  with  this  problem  is  that  of 
the  penalty  differential  wage  for  short  time.  Both  Manitoba  and 
British  Columbia  have  at  least  pointed  the  way  along  which 
future  progress  should  proceed. 

Another  observer  reports  Ontario  as  doing  most  and  best 
work. 

The  minimum  wage  in  this  country  has  hitherto  been 


156  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


applied  solely  to  women,  with  the  idea  of  preventing  the 
exploitation  of  a class  of  workers  handicapped  in  many 
ways;  but  also  because  the  health  and  welfare  of  women, 
as  a class,  is  of  even  greater  importance  to  society  than  that 
of  men,  inasmuch  as  the  function  of  women  as  mothers,  and 
potential  mothers,  is  a more  fundamental  function  than 
that  of  men  as  fathers.  Upon  the  mother  the  child  depends 
before  birth,  and  for  long  years  after  birth  for  physical  nur- 
ture, for  personal  growth.  Although  normally  the  father  is 
the  outside  provider,  and  although  he  should  and  usually 
does  share  in  imparting  social  training,  for  these  reasons 
and  because  injury  to  the  mother-sex  is  more  hurtful  to  the 
future  citizenship,  have  all  these  efforts  been  made  for  in- 
dustrial legislation  for  women. 

A word  must  nevertheless  be  said  here,  regarding  a 
remarkable  new  development  of  wage  standardization, 
applying  to  all  workers  with  family  responsibilities,  and 
approaching  the  question  from  a totally  different  angle. 
This  is  known  as  the  family  wage,  family  allowances  or 
endowment  of  motherhood,  and  is  closely  related  to  mater- 
nity insurance  and  mothers’  pensions.  In  some  countries  it 
is  a governmental  or  state  affair ; in  others  entirely  or  partly 
an  arrangement  carried  out  by  large  firms;  or  by  whole 
industries.  The  essential  principle  is  the  payment  to  the 
worker  or  to  the  worker’s  wife,  of  a sum  for  the  mainte- 
nance of  the  children,  in  proportion  to  the  number  in  the 
family.  In  France  2,000,000  workers,  chiefly  employed  in 
mining,  the  metal  trades,  transportation  and  the  civil  serv’- 
ice,  are  at  present  in  receipt  of  such  payment.  “In  Ger- 
many,” says  Miss  Mary  Waggaman,  October,  1921,  in  the 
Monthly  Labor  Review  (U.  S.  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics), 
“there  is  a trend  toward  the  regulation  of  wages  and  espe- 
cially bonuses,  in  accordance  with  the  worker’s  family  re- 
sponsibilities and  not  altogether  in  relation  to  his  ability 


THE  MINIMUM  WAGE 


157 


and  output.”  She  lists  the  Netherlands,  Spain,  Belgium, 
Czecho-Slovakia,  Poland  and  Sweden  as  all  inquiring  and 
experimenting.  The  matter  has  been  discussed  under  vari- 
ous forms  in  Great  Britain,  and  was  recently  given  great 
publicity  in  Australia  through  the  appointment  of  a Basic 
Wage  Commission. 

The  Commission  had  no  power  to  make  even  a recom- 
mendation, and  did  not  do  so.  Its  report,  however,  asserted 
as  proved  that  it  cost  in  Australia  on  the  average  £5.16.0 
($28.13  at  par  value)  a week  to  support  decently  a man,  his 
wife,  and  three  children  under  fourteen.  The  unions  were 
satisfied;  the  employers  declared  they  would  be  ruined, 
should  legislation  be  carried  through  based  upon  such 
standards.  The  Commonwealth  Statisticians,  when  con- 
sulted, reported  that  the  entire  income  of  the  Common- 
wealth would  not  meet  the  bill.  At  the  request  of  the 
Prime  Minister,  the  Chairman  of  the  Commission,  writing 
as  an  individual,  separated  the  basic  wage  into  its  constit- 
uent parts,  and  calculating  that  there  was,  on  an  average, 
barely  one  child  to  each  male  worker,  proposed  that  each 
employer  should  pay  his  (unskilled)  employes  a minimum 
flat  wage  of  £4.0.0  ($19.40)  per  week,  whether  single  or 
married ; the  employer,  in  addition,  to  pay  to  the  state  as  a 
tax  the  sum  of  a little  less  than  eleven  shillings  ($2.58)  for 
each  unskilled  male  worker  in  his  employ.  The  proceeds 
were  to  go  into  a pool.  This  pool,  he  calculated,  would  be 
sufificient  to  provide  a child  pension  of  twelve  shillings 
($2.88)  for  every  child  of  the  working  class  under  fourteen. 
According  to  this  plan,  the  man  with  a wife  and  three  chil- 
dren could  still  look  for  £5.16.0,  the  man  with  two  children 
less  in  proportion.  Those  with  larger  families,  again,  would 
have  a larger  income.  This  did  away  with  part  of  the  ob- 
jection to  the  Commission's  inflexible  basic  wage,  that  part 


158  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


of  the  money  would  be  expended  upon  the  “mythical  chil- 
dren” of  childless  men. 

The  figures  of  the  Chief  Statistician  and  his  inferences 
from  them  are  equally  disputed  by  trade  unionists. 

The  sole  actual  result  reported  is  that  in  December,  1920, 
it  was  announced  that  the  married  employes  of  the  Federal 
Government  were  to  be  paid  a basic  wage,  and,  in  addition, 
receive  an  allowance  for  each  child. 

The  economic  question  is  here  seen  reduced  to  its  bare 
elements.  The  question  raised  cannot  be  answered  without 
the  production  of  facts.  “What  is  the  country's  income?” 
“How  can  it  be  increased?”  “How  should  it  be  distrib- 
uted?” “What  should  be  a first  charge  upon  national  in- 
come (net  or  gross)  ?”  Work  here,  as  suggested  by  Pro- 
fessor Heaton,  for  another  Royal  Commission. 

Miss  Eleanor  Rathbone,  describing  a similar  New  South 
Wales  State  bill,  “The  IMaintenance  of  Children,”  draws 
attention  to  an  inequality  between  men  and  women  wage- 
earners.  Under  this,  if  a wage-earning  woman  were  sup- 
porting children,  she  would  receive,  as  the  head  of  the 
house,  the  same  allotment  for  each  child  as  if  she  were  a 
man;  but  she  would  not  draw  the  same  individual  wage  as 
her  husband  would  have  done,  although  she  is  equally  re- 
sponsible for  the  family  and  family  standards.  On  the 
other  hand,  a single  man  is  supposed  to  need  as  much  to 
spend  on  himself  as  he  would  spend  on  two,  were  he  mar- 
ried and  with  no  children. 

Certainly  one  indirect  result  from  systems  of  wage  regu- 
lation is  that  the  public  becomes  slowly  educated  to  a 
knowledge  of  what  manufactured  articles  cost,  in  terms  of 
the  life  of  the  worker.  The  granting  of  fair  wages  becomes 
a matter  of  public  concern  and  public  responsibility. 

Nothing  in  the  nature  of  a child  allowance  has  been  tried 


THE  MINIMUM  WAGE  159 

in  the  United  States,  except  in  the  fonn  of  mothers’  pen- 
sions. 

There  is  profound  difference  of  opinion  in  economic  and 
labor  circles  concerning  this  novel  method  of  solving  the 
wage  problem;  the  few  partial  experiments  in  this  direction 
are  too  recent  for  any  definite  conclusions  to  be  arrived  at. 
Many  trade  unionists  regard  such  schemes  with  distrust,  as 
confusing  the  issue  between  output  and  remuneration. 
Some  advocates  of  birth  control  also  point  out  that  to  in- 
sure the  children’s  receiving  full  benefit,  whether  individ- 
ually or  through  the  raising  of  the  standards  of  family  life, 
either  such  family  subsidy  should  be  paid  directly  to  the 
mother  or  she  should  at  least  have  a legal  control  over  its 
expenditure. 

There  is  much  industrial  legislation  which  applies  to  men 
as  well  as  to  women;  workmen’s  compensation;  the  long 
advocated  health  insurance  and  insurance  against  unem- 
ployment, also  still  in  the  future  for  the  United  States. 
The  latter  has  been  closely  investigated  by  labor  unions. 
The  general  opinion  is  more  and  more  coming  to  be  that  in 
part,  at  least,  it  must  be  looked  on  as  a charge  on  industry, 
to  be  foreseen,  to  be  prepared  for,  and  to  be  in  part  pre- 
vented. Contrary  to  the  general  impression,  women  suffer 
chronically  from  unemployment,  partly  owing  to  the  sea- 
sonal character  of  so  many  of  their  occupations  and  partly 
because  such  a large  proportion,  particularly  of  the  younger 
workers,  are  untrained  or  half  trained,  belonging  to  what 
are  called  the  semi-skilled  occupations,  and  therefore  have 
not  the  hold  upon  a trade  that  is  the  valued  possession  of 
the  skilled  worker. 

Anna  Garlin  Spencer,  in  “The  Family  and  Its  Members,” 
warns  us  against  linking  together,  as  is  so  often  done,  adult 
women  and  children  for  legislative  protection.  She  advo- 
cates as  a social  measure  of  the  first  importance  minimum 


160  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


wage  legislation  or  rather,  perhaps,  adequate  wage  stand- 
ardization for  fathers  of  families;  adequate  protection  for 
the  youth  of  both  sexes,  up  to  eighteen,  including  limitation 
of  the  working  hours  of  the  adolescent  to  an  average  of  not 
more  than  24  hours  per  week. 

If  we  are  as  anxious  as  citizens  to  secure  opportunity  for  the 
men  and  women  who  make  up  the  great  army  of  average  workers, 
self-supporting  but  at  cost  of  struggle  often  too  severe,  as  we  are 
anxious  as  philanthropists  to  ease  the  burden  and  protect  the 
weakness  of  the  more  backward  members  of  the  industrial  army, 
the  current  of  upward  movement  of  all  in  gainful  occupations 
would  be  stronger  and  more  socially  helpful.  The  family  is  most 
of  all  concerned  with  the  minimum  wage  of  adult  men  who  marry 
and  have  children.  . . . 

Social  protection  should  be  less  a club  marked,  “Thou  shalt 
not,”  and  more  an  opportunity  inscribed,  “Chances  to  rise,  win 
them.”  For  the  woman,  married  and  a mother,  there  must  be 
not  so  many  new  ways  of  enforcing  prohibitions  of  what  are 
deemed  for  her  harmful  forms  of  labor,  as  more  ingenuity  in  pro- 
viding half-time  work,  better  adjustments  of  earning  facilities  to 
domestic  duties,  far  more  co-operative  machinery  for  reducing 
the  cost  of  living  and  for  securing  the  family  against  economic 
exploitation  in  food,  clothing  and  shelter. 

The  first  women  who  asked  for  an  investigation  into  the 
industrial  condition  of  women  and  children  appear  to  have 
had  in  mind  woman  and  child  workers  in  the  broad  and 
accurate  meaning  of  all  those  who  worked.  The  act  under 
which  the  investigation  was  carried  out  read:  “An  Act  to 
authorize  the  Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor  to  report 
upon  the  industrial,  social,  moral,  educational  and  physical 
condition  of  woman  and  child  workers  in  the  United 
States.”  The  interpretation  put  upon  it,  however,  by  the 
Department  and  everyone  else  was  that  the  investigation 
was  to  concern  itself  with  woman  and  child  wage-earners. 


THE  MINIMUM  WAGE 


161 


As  it  was,  the  task  was  so  great  that  any  other  interpreta- 
tion would  at  that  time  merely  have  meant  either  complete 
failure  to  achieve  any  result  at  all  or  an  inadequate  and 
superficial  handling  of  the  subject.  No  one,  on  the  other 
hand,  who  is  interested  in  an  accurate  interpretation  of  the 
meaning  and  value  of  woman’s  work  in  the  community  can 
be  content  to  limit  future  inquiries  to  the  wage-earning 
occupations. 

The  figures  of  the  United  States  census  are  in  this  regard 
full  of  meaning.  The  census  of  1920  lists,  in  round  figures, 

32.000. 000  women  over  16  years  of  age,  of  whom  only 

8.000. 000  are  listed  as  working,  leaving  about  24,000,000  to 
be  accounted  for.  By  working,  the  Bureau  means  working 
for  wages  or  salaries  or  conducting  businesses  of  their  own. 
The  rest  of  the  32,000,000,  what  are  they  doing?  Under 
any  non-technical  interpretation,  these  women  (and  girls) 
are  employed  in  caring  for  their  families,  in  washing,  cook- 
ing, sewing,  cleaning,  many  of  them  incidentally  having 
babies  and  bringing  up  these  babies  from  infancy  to  full- 
grown  manhood  and  womanhood.  This  is  true  even  in 
cities;  outside  of  cities  the  work  of  the  home  woman  is  still 
more  arduous.  It  includes  a great  deal  of  real  farm  work 
both  out  of  doors  and  indoors,  besides  the  heavy  burden  of 
housekeeping  for  many  of  the  farm  workers. 

Even  while  agreeing  with  Mrs.  Charlotte  Gilman  that 
much  of  our  domestic  labor  is  ill  planned  and  unprofitable, 
the  fact  remains  that  these  women  are  producers,  their 
labor  contributing  to  the  support  of  the  nation  and  still 
more  to  the  existence  of  the  next  generation;  therefore  to 
style  the  home  woman  as  of  no  occupation  is  not  common 
sense,  for  it  does  not  fit  in  with  facts.  Furthermore,  if 
statistics  have  any  meaning,  the  number  of  those  engaged 
forms  an  important  element  in  comparing  and  valuing 
different  kinds  of  work. 


162  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


From  our  32  million  it  will  be  necessary  to  make  some 
deductions,  for  instance,  women  and  girls  of  privilege  and 
leisure  and  even  idleness,  a few;  women  owning  their  own 
businesses,  not  very  many ; girls  between  16  and  20  still  at 
school  or  college,  a handful;  and  lastly  the  old  and  the 
frail,  the  sick  and  the  permanently  incapacitated;  even 
after  making  all  these  deductions  there  must  be  well  over 
20,000,000  women  left  who  are  performing  the  everyday 
chores,  taking  care  of  the  nation’s  homes  and  bringing  up 
the  nation’s  youth. 

As  a quantitative  problem  the  twenty  millions  are  even 
more  important  than  the  eight  millions.  It  is  true  that  the 
eight  million  wage-earning  women  have  a social  importance 
that  the  others  yet  lack.  For  one  thing  they  can  be  found. 
They  work  in  a sense  in  public  or  in  the  public  eye.  For 
the  most  part  they  do  not  work  in  isolation;  for  these 
reasons  their  work  can  be  valued,  estimated,  judged.  It 
can  be  interpreted  from  many  different  angles.  The  work- 
ers are  themselves  to  a certain  extent  vocal.  The  worker 
learns  to  think  and  to  be  the  cause  of  thought  in  others. 
In  short,  the  wage  earning  occupations  have  come  to  be 
understood  because  they  have  been  socialized.  Out  of  the 
study  of  wage  earning  occupations,  many  of  them  con- 
ducted in  behalf  of  women,  we  have  learned  a great  deal  of 
the  effect  of  work  upon  the  worker,  of  the  stimulus  given 
by  higher  wages  or  shorter  hours;  of  the  meaning  of  the 
seasonal  trades,  of  the  effect  of  unemployment  on  the  health 
and  psychology  of  the  worker. 

We  may  still  be  very  ignorant  of  all  these  matters  and 
the  workers  may  still  be  sadly  apathetic  and  only  half 
awake  to  what  is  going  on  around  them,  but  we  have  now 
learned  a great  deal  and  are  in  the  way  of  learning  more. 

Very  different  it  is  with  the  home  women,  the  twenty 
million  home  women.  Yet  they,  too,  have  their  economic 


THE  MINIMUM  WAGE 


163 


and  industrial  and  labor  problems;  they,  too,  have  to  face 
the  problems  of  making  ends  meet;  they,  too,  have  to  face 
the  endless  home  struggle  of  finding  enough  to  meet  the 
constant  demands  for  food,  clothing  and  shelter. 

The  fact  that  the  money  part  of  the  family  income  comes 
through  the  husband  and  perhaps  through  wage  earning 
sons  does  not  alter  the  fact  that  the  value  in  expenditure  of 
that  income  so  largely  depends  upon  the  woman’s  con- 
tribution of  her  own  individual  labor  and  her  own  thought 
and  care.  Why  not  then  follow  out  the  very  same  lines  of 
inquiry  which  have  had  such  satisfactory  results  in  the  case 
of  the  wage  earning  woman? 

A resolution  was  adopted  by  the  last  convention  of  the 
National  Woman’s  Trade  Union  League  (June,  1922)  ask- 
ing for  a congressional  investigation  into  the  economic 
status  and  labor  conditions  of  women  in  the  home,  both  of 
the  twenty  million  women  working  in  their  own  homes  and 
of  the  other  two  million  women  working  for  wages. 

As  this  book  is  going  through  the  press,  there  is  a move- 
ment on  foot,  headed  by  no  industrial  group,  but  by  a group 
of  radical  feminists,  the  National  Woman’s  Party,  to  place 
upon  a definite  and  formal  basis,  the  demand  that  so  many 
have  believed  to  be  implied  in  the  demand  for  suffrage,  and 
to  be  the  necessary  corollary  of  political  emancipation, 
namely,  that  close  on  the  heels  of  political  equality,  should 
follow  legal  and  industrial  equality.  That  may  be  asked 
for  in  the  form  of  a federal  amendment  to  the  consti- 
tution, in  the  form  of  state  amendments,  or  again  it  may 
be  reached  through  piece  by  piece  legislation,  aimed  at 
removing  one  by  one,  or  group  by  group,  such  discrimina- 
tions as  bar  women  from  jury  service,  from  state  or  pro- 
fessional employment,  from  equality  of  parental  rights.  In 
some  states  the  wife  is  today  legally  tied  down  to  the 


164.  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


domicile  of  her  husband,  even  although  she  may  be  living 
in  another  state. 

The  great  majority  of  such  discriminations  affect  women 
through  the  sex  relation,  especially  the  marriage  relation 
with  its  resultant  economic  dependence,  but  it  is  an  error 
to  suppose  that  the  wage-earning  woman  and  the  poor 
woman  is  not  a sufferer  through  these  discriminations. 

The  objection  raised  against  this  campaign  by  most  of 
the  organized  working  women  is  that  it  would  tend  to 
abrogate  legislation  shortening  hours  and  standardizing 
wages,  by  giving  employers,  lawyers  and  judges  a loophole 
through  which  all  such  legislation  for  women  might  be  de- 
clared rmconstitutional.  However  that  may  be — state  con- 
stitutions vary  and  lawyers  differ  radically  in  their  forecasts 
of  what  may  happen,  a dynamic  element  enters  into  the 
case  which  cannot  be  passed  over.  It  is  with  some  astonish- 
ment that  one  observes  women  arguing  for  legislative 
action  on  the  ground  that  such  laws  are  needed  as  a 
concession  to  weakness,  instead  of  being  respected  and 
valued  as  a means  of  raising  standards  in  one  field  and  for 
one  group,  just  as  by  law,  many  other  groups,  miners,  rail- 
way men  and  federal  employes  have  had  their  standards 
raised  year  by  year,  without  any  sense  in  their  case  that  it 
was  a concession  to  weakness. 

There  is  no  question  that  this  group  of  feminists  are 
holding  up  a great  ideal,  and  the  psychological  effect  of  such 
an  ideal  held  steadily  before  women  and  before  men  must 
have  in  the  end  a profound  influence  upon  thought  and  upon 
legislation.  Some  of  its  advocates  take  in  addition,  what 
seems  to  be  the  gratuitous  step  of  being  willing,  for  what 
they  consider  consistency,  to  scrap  everything  working 
women  have  with  such  toil  and  suffering  obtained,  in  the 
raising  of  standards  by  legislation ; taking  the  position  that 
no  such  legislation  should  be  passed  to  apply  to  women 


THE  MINIMUM  WAGE 


165 


unless  it  is  also  extended  to  men.  No  such  alternative 
seems  either  desirable  or  inevitable.  Such  a hard  and  fast 
rule  is  the  less  called  for,  inasmuch  as  many  trade  union 
men  are  not  yet  willing  to  ask  for  general  limitation  of 
hours  for  men,  still  holding  to  the  position  from  which  they 
have  departed  in  Great  Britain,  that  organization  is  the 
only  channel  through  which  men  should  obtain  advance  of 
hour  or  wage  standards. 

What  will  happen  will  largely  depend  upon  the  great 
mass  of  silent  women  themselves,  and  upon  how  keenlj;- 
they  are  alive  to  the  need  of  obtaining  genuine  economic 
independence  and  genuine  equality.  This  mass  of  women 
recorded  as  not  gainfully  employed,  may  at  length  express 
their  resentment  at  being  discriminated  against  alike  by 
law,  through  the  administration  of  law,  and  through  social 
customs  and  tradition.* 


*In  April,  1923,  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  declared 
the  Minimum  Wage  Law  of  the  District  of  Columbia  unconstitu- 
tional. At  time  of  writing,  there  exists  extreme  uncertainty  as  to 
what  the  ultimate  results  of  this  decision  may  be,  and  how  far  it 
may  affect  minimum  wage  laws  which  have  been  passed  by  the 
different  state  legislatures. 


Chapter  IX 


THE  WOMEN’S  BUREAU 

One  most  important  development  of  the  last  ten  years 
in  the  woman’s  labor  movement  has  been  the  establishment 
of  the  Women’s  Bureau  as  an  essential  part  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Labor.  To  know  how  this  came  about  it  will  be 
necessary  to  go  back  a little  into  recent  history.  Although 
the  need  for  such  a bureau  had  long  been  felt,  it  is  doubtful 
whether  we  should  have  had  it  today  had  it  not  been  for 
the  great  changes  in  industry  wrought  by  the  World  War. 

For  many  years  the  sole  way  in  which  the  public  could 
come  into  connection  with  industrial  questions  was  through 
the  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  commerce  being 
much  the  more  important  division  and  its  activities  empha- 
sized accordingly.  Mr.  Charles  P.  Neill,  who  was  Com- 
missioner of  the  Bureau  of  Labor  within  the  Department 
under  the  Roosevelt  Administration  is,  however,  to  be  re- 
membered by  working  folks,  because  he  took  his  respon- 
sibilities toward  them  very  seriously. 

In  1913  the  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor  was 
Iformally  divided,  and  the  interests  of  labor  handed  over  to 
the  officials  of  the  new  Department  of  Labor.  IMr.  William 
B.  Wilson,  a miner,  a man  long  an  officer  in  his  own  organ- 
ization, was  made  Secretary,  and  Mr.  Louis  F.  Post,  the 
well-known  writer  on  public  affairs.  Assistant  Secretary. 

In  the  winter  of  1905,  the  Illinois  Women’s  Trade  Union 
League,  at  one  of  its  regular  meetings,  passed  a resolution 
requesting  the  National  League  to  appoint  a committee  to 

166 


THE  WOMEN’S  BUREAU 


167 


secure  a federal  investigation  of  the  conditions  of  women 
in  factories  and  shops.  A committee  of  three  was  appointed, 
Mary  E.  McDowell  chairman,  with  instructions  to  secure 
the  co-operation  of  the  General  Federation  of  Women’s 
Clubs  and  other  organizations. 

The  committee  visited  Washington,  and  at  once  gained 
the  support  of  President  Roosevelt  and  the  Commissioner 
of  Labor,  Mr.  Charles  P.  Neill.  Furthermore,  they  made 
the  suggestion  that  the  investigation  should  cover  also  the 
conditions  of  working  children. 

Representative  Gardner  of  Massachusetts  introduced  the 
bill  in  March,  1906.  It  authorized  the  Secretary  of  Com- 
merce and  Labor  to  investigate  and  report  upon  the  indus- 
trial, social,  moral,  educational  and  physical  conditions  of 
woman  and  child  wage  earners  in  the  United  States,  allow- 
ing for  an  appropriation  of  $150,000. 

The  bill  passed  the  following  January  (1907),  but  carried 
no  appropriation.  The  right  of  the  Federal  Government  to 
make  such  an  investigation  was  questioned,  but  when  that 
point  had  been  favorably  decided  by  the  Judiciary  Com- 
mittee, the  last  obstacle  had  been  passed,  and  the  Commis- 
sioner was  able  to  set  to  work,  mapping  out  the  scope  of 
the  investigation.  The  amount  finally  appropriated  was 
$300,000. 

The  organizations  that  co-operated  in  securing  the  inves- 
tigation were: 

American  Federation  of  Labor,  and  International  unions. 
State  Federations  of  Labor, 

Brotherhood  of  Railroad  Trainmen’s  Associations, 

General  Federation  of  Women’s  Clubs, 

Daughters  of  the  American  Revolution,  and  Colonial  Dames, 
Woman’s  Christian  Temperance  Union, 

Boards  of  Trade, 

Ministerial  associations. 


168  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


The  special  investigation  lasted  four  years,  issuing  re- 
ports at  intervals,  and  covered  much  ground,  as  can  be 
judged  from  some  of  the  titles;  “The  Silk  Industry,”  “The 
Glass  Industry,”  “Labor  Laws  and  Factory  Conditions,” 
“Family  Budgets,”  “Women  in  Trade  Unions.”  TWien  in 
1911  the  report  was  complete,  it  filled  nineteen  volumes. 

* It  is  to  be  found  in  all  important  libraries.  It  laid  a 
sound  foundation  of  knowledge  in  a field  where  public 
ignorance  had  been  dense  and  public  interest,  except  in  a 
few  quarters,  lacking. 

The  report  made  a profound  impression,  and  what  was 
unveiled  regarding  wages,  sanitary  conditions,  the  health  of 
the  workers,  the  erratic  and  inconsistent  standards  pre- 
vailing in  wages  and  hours,  the  prevalence  of  seasonal  work 
and  consequent  unemployment  in  so  many  women’s  trades, 
was  found  to  be  so  much  worse  than  could  have  been 
imagined  that  labor  leaders  and  social  workers  who  had 
previously  seen  below  the  surface  for  themselves,  had  now 
plenty  of  proof,  and  more  than  plenty,  to  confirm  their 
fears  and  to  support  their  gloomiest  words  of  warning. 
With  all  this  information  in  hand,  it  soon  became  evident 
that  what  was  needed  was  not  an  occasional  investigation, 
monumental  as  this  one  had  been,  but  a permanent  office 
with  officials  always  on  the  job.  It  was  not  long  before 
an  organized  movement  was  on  foot  among  the  women  of 
the  country,  making  a definite  request  for  the  establishment 
of  a Women’s  Division  in  the  Department  of  Labor  for  the 
handling  of  women’s  industrial  problems. 

Meanwhile  the  Children’s  Bureau  had  been  established 
as  a division  of  the  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor 
and  had  proved  an  astonishing  success  and  a constant  sur- 
prise to  the  legislative  and  departmental  heads  of  Washing- 
ton. Incidentally,  it  turned  out  to  be  a most  powerful 


THE  WOMEN’S  BUREAU 


169 


argument  for  the  establishment  of  a Women’s  Bureau. 
The  courage  and  independence  of  its  head,  Miss  Julia 
Lathrop,  and  her  keen  sense  of  the  close  relation  between 
industry  and  general  well  being,  between  the  remuneration 
of  the  wage  earner  and  the  health  and  even  the  life  of  his 
babies,  gave  fresh  courage  to  the  advocates  of  a women’s 
division,  and  they  were  more  persistent  than  ever  in  urging 
that  something  similar  to  what  had  been  done  for  the  chil- 
dren of  the  nation  was  badly  needed  by  the  women  workers. 

In  Manchester,  New  Hampshire,  the  Children’s  Bureau 
found  that  “of  the  babies  with  fathers  earning  less  than 
$450  a year,  about  one  in  four  died  before  it  was  twelve 
months  old.  The  great  majority  of  the  babies  had  fathers 
in  the  wage  group  from  $450  to  $849,  and  of  these  about  one 
in  six  died.  Of  the  babies  whose  fathers  earned  $850,  but 
less  than  $1,050,  one  in  eight.  This  is  exactly  half  of  the 
infant  deaths  in  the  poorer  families. 

Again,  in  1918,  the  Chief  of  the  Bureau,  in  her  annual 
report,  summarized  information  secured  in  eight  cities, 
Johnstown,  Pa.,  Manchester,  N.  H.,  Brockton,  Mass., 
Saginaw,  Mich.,  New  Bedford,  Mass.,  Waterbury,  Conn., 
Akron,  Ohio,  and  Baltimore,  Md.  Taking  an  average  of 
the  whole  where  the  father  earned  under  $450,  more  than 
one  baby  in  every  six  died;  where  the  father  earned  $1,250 
and  over  only  about  one  in  sixteen  died. 

In  one  of  its  early  reports,  the  Children’s  Bureau  had 
shown  that  of  the  approximately  15,000  deaths  of  women 
from  childbirth  occurring  in  the  United  States  yearly,  a 
large  proportion  is  quite  preventable.  This  heavy  death 
rate  occurs  principally  among  the  poor,  where  the  atten- 
tion the  mother  receives  is  that  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Com- 
paratively few  mothers  die  where  the  family  can  afford 
twentieth  centvuy  medical  and  nursing  care. 

The  response  to  the  women’s  insistent  demands  came 


170  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


when  the  Women’s  Division  was  at  length  inaugurated  in 
Washington.  It  was,  however,  but  a subdivision  of  the 
Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics.  It  had  no  independent  head, 
no  power  of  initiative,  nor  its  own  purse.  The  Chief  was 
Miss  Marie  Obenauer.  She  had  her  seat  as  one  of  the  five 
executives  of  the  Bureau.  She  was,  however,  but  one 
woman,  and  her  co-oflficers  were  four  men.  In  any  difference 
of  opinion  where  the  interests  of  women  were  concerned, 
she  would  almost  inevitably  be  outvoted.  She  had,  it  is 
true,  a strong  personality,  and  she  was  notably  ingenious  in 
securing  the  cooperation  of  State  Bureaus  of  Labor.  In 
Indiana  she  directed  an  investigation,  the  expenses  of  which 
were  met  by  the  Indiana  State  Bureau.  In  Washington, 
in  the  same  fashion,  she  made  a study  of  minimum  wage- 
rates.  She  was  successful  in  obtaining  widespread  publicity 
for  her  Division,  and  for  a long  while  no  one  outside  of 
Washington  realized  that,  after  all,  it  was  a losing  fight  in 
which  she  was  engaged.  After  a time  Miss  Obenauer 
resigned,  and  Miss  Cunnington  took  her  place,  but  she 
remained  only  about  six  months. 

One  of  the  wits  of  The  New  Republic  contributed  to 
the  joy  of  readers  by  an  airy  account  of  how  the  Division 
functioned  in  industry,  how  it  made  for  efficiency,  and  was 
helpful  both  to  manufacturer  and  to  employe  and  how, 
alas!  it  died  of  too  much  red  tape  and  too  little  money. 

“Show  her  in,”  said  the  manufacturer  ungraciously.  It  was 
another  of  those  impractical  pests,  an  investigator. 

“I  have  been  stud3dng  factories  equipped  with  your  machin- 
ery,” began  the  unwelcome  guest,  “and  it  struck  me  that  some 
slight  alteration  would  do  away  with  a good  deal  of  unnecessary 
strain  upon  the  workers.”  Off  came  her  gloves  and  out  came  her 
notebook  and  pencil. 

“Those  foot  treadles,  for  instance;  the  range  is  12  inches,  and 
they  require  100  pounds  pressure  to  operate.  Now  when  a woman 


THE  WOMEN’S  BUREAU 


171 


steps  up  12  inches  and  presses  down  a hundred  pounds’  weight  all 
day  long,  she  is  working  under  a ruinous  strain.  Why  not  make 
the  casting  with  a shorter  range — thus — and  install  it  thus,  so 
that  she  steps  down  on  it?” 

The  practical  manufacturer  looked  at  her  penciled  diagram, 
then  he  looked  shrewdly  at  her. 

“Where  do  you  come  from,  anyway?”  he  asked  abruptly. 

The  impractical  one  pulled  out  her  credentials.  They  revealed 
the  imposing  title  of  Chief  of  the  Women’s  Division  of  the  Bureau 
of  Labor  Statistics  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Labor. 

“Well,”  said  the  man,  with  a grin,  “I  give  up!  What  you  sug- 
gest is  perfectly  practical.  We  never  thought  of  it,  that’s  all. 
We  manufacturers  have  a right  to  be  afraid  of  you  people; 
usually  you  throw  rocks  at  us  and  don’t  tell  us  what  to  do  I ” 

In  half  an  hour  they  had  figured  out  schemes  for  relieving  the 
heat  with  asbestos  deflectors  and  a dozen  other  simple,  practical 
improvements.  Then  the  manufacturer  got  excited  over  a plan 
for  getting  perfected  machinery  standardized  by  the  O.  K.  of  the 
Federal  Government  and  having  the  manufacturer  share  liability 
Avith  the  employer  where  unapproved  machinery  is  used. 

At  this  interesting  point  the  investigator  withdrew  because 
Uncle  Sam  decided  he  did  not  have  enough  money  to  waste  on 
allowing  her  to  finish;  the  manufacturer  is  still  trying  to  get  her 
back. 

Quite  evidently,  fresh  legislation  was  needed.  Secretary 
Wilson  was  entirely  favorable  to  the  re-organization  of  the 
Women’s  Section  as  a separate  Division,  and  in  1916,  the 
Jones-Casey  bill  was  introduced  into  both  houses,  providing 
for  the  establishment  in  the  Department  of  Labor  of  a 
Women’s  Division,  “which  shall  investigate  and  report  to 
the  said  department  upon  all  matters  pertaining  to  the 
welfare  of  wage-earning  women,  and  shall  especially  inves- 
tigate the  questions  of  the  competitive  influence  of  women 
in  the  several  industries,  the  adjustment  of  modern  indus- 
trial mechanism  and  management  to  the  physical  and 


172  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


nervous  organization  of  women,  and  the  influence  of  indus- 
trial employment  upon  the  subsequent  home  life  of  wage- 
earning women.”  The  bill  was  backed  by  the  National 
Women’s  Trade  Union  League,  the  National  Consumers’ 
League,  the  General  Federation  of  Women’s  Clubs  and  the 
National  Young  Women’s  Christian  Association  and  bore 
the  recommendation  of  the  Secretary  of  Labor. 

With  the'  introduction  of  this  bill  began  a long  wear>" 
effort  to  insure  its  passage.  The  struggle  began  in  the  spring 
of  1916  and  cannot  be  said  to  have  ended  until  the  Women’s 
Bureau  was  finally  placed  upon  a permanent  basis  in  June, 
1920. 

Meantime,  the  stars  in  their  courses  were  fighting  for 
Sisera  and  here  there  is  a digression.  During  the  early 
years  of  the  World  War,  and  before  America  entered  it, 
it  had  already  been  abundantly  shown  that  huge  disorder 
and  untold  suffering  resulted  from  throwing  workers, 
especially  women,  in  great  numbers  into  new  employment, 
where  any  old  building  had  been  turned  into  a factory  over- 
night, where  little  provision  had  been  made  for  the  com- 
monest needs  of  human  beings,  if  they  were  to  be  kept 
clean  and  healthy,  and  ordinarily  comfortable  at  their  work, 
where  perhaps  neither  housing,  nor  the  means  of  daily 
transportation  between  home  and  factory  had  been  con- 
sidered. 

If  there  was  confusion  and  inadequacy  in  the  material 
,iake-up  of  factory  buildings,  and  in  the  local  surround- 
ings, there  was  apt  to  be  even  greater  bewilderment  over 
the  allotting  of  jobs,  the  placing  of  workers,  and  the  shift- 
ing of  workers  from  one  state  or  city  to  another.  Result, 
that  the  workers  were  not  to  be  had  where  they  were  needed, 
and  the  workers  seeking  jobs  did  not  know  where  to  find 
them. 

Upon  working  women  especially,  usually  the  invisible 


THE  WOMEN’S  BUREAU 


173 


partners  in  the  industry  of  our  country,  quite  a bright  light 
was  thrown,  when,  immediately  war  was  declared,  they 
were  mobilized  in  a volunteer  army,  and  called  upon  to 
march  forward  to  fill  gaps  left  in  industry  by  the  departing 
soldiers,  and  to  fill  likewise  many  new  niches  in  the  war 
trades,  which  without  their  aid,  would  have  been  crying 
out  for  help. 

To  remedy  the  evils  that  were  piling  up  along  with  the 
increasing  employment  of  inexperienced  workers  in  the 
war  trades,  the  Industrial  Service  Section  of  the  Ordnance 
Department  in  Washington  was  established  with  Dean 
Schneider  at  the  head  and  Miss  Mary  Van  Kleeck  as  head 
of  the  Women’s  Section.  While  production,  economy  and 
efficiency  were  the  immediate  objects  they  were  not  the 
sole  aim.  Conserving  the  strength  of  the  workers  (partic- 
ularly the  women  workers),  and  therefore  the  strength 
of  the  nation,  was  equally  important.  To  adjust  the  two 
meant  a great  deal  of  planning;  it  meant  talking  over  diffi- 
culties and  patiently  trying  to  harmonize  the  needs  of  the 
department  as  to  output  with  the  claims  of  the  workers  as 
to  what  they  felt  to  be  a living  wage,  endurable  working 
hours,  and  decent  housing  arrangements. 

Mary  Van  Kleeck  had  been  director  of  the  Committee  on 
Women’s  Work  and  of  Industrial  Studies  under  the  Russell 
Sage  Foundation.  Her  chief  duty  now  was  to  maintain 
a constant  oversight  over  the  girls  turning  out  ordnance 
supplies  (mainly,  but  not  entirely  munitions)  in  the  various 
arsenals. 

To  do  all  this  she  had  to  keep  in  closest  touch  with  the 
employes.  She  had  to  go  outside  of  her  office,  and  per- 
sonally or  through  her  corps  of  women  aides,  find  out  how 
the  girls  were  getting  on.  Were  they  satisfied,  and  if  not, 
why  not?  Were  they  giving  satisfaction,  and  if  not,  why 
not?  Usually  there  was  some  central  question  around 


174  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


which  discontent  or  complaint  centered,  and  it  was  not 
necessarily  the  same  in  different  establishments.  A super- 
intendent might  emphatically  and  sincerely  believe  that  he 
could  not  possibly  manage  without  overtime,  and  yet  the 
trained  adviser  might  discover  that,  after  all,  some  re- 
arrangement of  work  or  of  operators,  or  some  better  shop 
equipment  might  remove  the  necessity  for  long  hours  on 
that  order.  Sometimes  a foreman  who  can  manage  men  is 
quite  unsuited  to  handle  girls.  Or  the  source  of  difficulty 
might  lie  outside  the  arsenal  walls  altogether,  in  crowded 
rooms,  poor  food,  or  a town  trolley  system  so  inadequate  to 
accommodate  the  girls  on  their  daily  journeys  night  and 
morning  that  they  come  to  work  tired  and  inefficient,  or 
make  a bad  record  for  attendance.  The  girl  who  utters  no 
complaint  to  her  superior,  because  she,  dare  not,  or  thinks 
she  dare  not,  but  simply  leaves,  is  a very  usual  type,  and  to 
her  Miss  Van  Kleeck’s  helpers  used  to  make  the  approach, 
used  to  link  up  with  her,  and  find  out  why  she  left.  Perhaps 
it  had  been  for  some  perfectly  good  reason,  but  the  cause 
of  her  dissatisfaction  might  be  removable.  Anyhow,  what- 
ever it  was  they  would  do  their  best  to  find  it  out.  And  it 
is  wonderful  how  many  causes  of  complaint  can  be  done 
away  with,  if  there  is  somebody  with  whom  to  talk  things 
over,  especially  when  there  is  such  a very  human  sort  of 
person  holding  the  reins,  someone  who  will  not  jerk  the 
reins,  just  hold  them  steady. 

Miss  Van  Kleeck  appointed  as  her  field  assistant  !Miss 
Mary  Anderson,  well  fitted  on  account  of  her  long  experi- 
ence as  a worker,  as  a member  of  the  National  Executive 
Board  of  the  Boot  and  Shoe  Workers’  Union  and  also  as 
an  organizer  for  the  Chicago  and  the  National  Women’s 
Trade  Union  League.  Her  talent  for  getting  at  the  heart 
of  a matter  had  often  helped  in  clearing  away  difficulties 
and  settling  shop  disputes. 


THE  WOMEN’S  BUREAU 


175 


Though  the  wage  story  here,  and  length  of  hours  there, 
and  in  yet  another  case  a place  to  live  was  the  problem, 
and  this  girl  or  that  forelady  or  that  section  boss  wanted 
the  trouble  righted,  it  was  in  the  office  of  Dean  Schneider 
and  his  woman  assistant  administrator  that  plans  were 
formed,  and  the  principles  laid  down  which  enabled  a peace- 
maker’s decision  to  be  accepted  by  the  often  irritated  dis- 
putants in  the  shop.  The  Industrial  Service  Section  was 
essentially  a clearing  house,  in  which  every  one’s  com- 
plaints, whether  settled  or  still  in  the  balance,  eventually 
drifted.  This  was  how  the  experience  of  one  arsenal  helped 
another  instead  of  it  being  a case  of  hit  or  miss  with  each 
fresh  trouble. 

All  this  time  women  in  every  part  of  the  country  were 
pressing  for  a Women’s  Bureau.  At  length  as  an  emergency 
measure  room  was  made  at  Washington  for  the  Woman  in 
Industry  Service  in  the  Department  of  Labor.  Miss  Van 
Kleeck  and  Miss  Anderson  were  transferred  from  the 
Ordnance  Department  to  take  charge  as  director  and  assis- 
tant director.  Although  the  Woman  in  Industry  Service 
never  had  any  power  to  compel  anybody  to  do  anything,  it 
did  provide  a forum  for  discussion  and  consultation,  and 
was  able  to  do  an  important  educational  work  in  preventing 
hysterical  campaigns  to  overthrow  such  protective  safe- 
guards over  womens  hours  and  women’s  health,  as  long 
years  of  effort  had  established.  Also,  even  with  the  tiny 
appropriation  of  $40,000  to  cover  everything,  salaries,  office 
and  traveling  expenses,  and  fees  for  aid  of  expert  assistants, 
it  was  possible  to  answer  many  other  calls  for  information, 
advice  and  help,  calls  that  came  from  other  government 
departments,  from  private  employers,  and  from  the  working 
women  themselves. 

One  of  the  very  best  pieces  of  work  done  was  the  inquiry 
into  the  chemical  industries  of  Niagara  Falls,  N.  Y.  It 


176  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


arose  out  of  the  request  of  the  local  Employers’  Association 
to  be  permitted  to  work  women  at  night,  thus  overriding 
the  New  York  state  law.  It  was  formd  that  so  many 
changes  would  have  been  necessary  to  insure  reasonably 
healthful  conditions  for  women  that  it  was  not  possible  to 
recommend  their  employment  in  these  factories  at  that  time. 
But  better  still  was  the  making  clear  how  many  improve- 
ments could  and  should  be  installed  immediately  to  make 
the  work  safe  for  the  staff  of  men  already  engaged  there, 
such  as  using  mechanical  devices  for  pulling  and  hauling 
of  heavy  weights,  removing  poisonous  dusts  and  fumes 
from  the  air  breathed  by  the  employes,  and  strengthening 
the  resistance  of  the  individual  through  medical  supervi- 
sion and  shorter  hours  of  work. 

There  is  a story  told  of  one  business  man,  who,  during  the 
war,  hied  him  to  Washington  to  procure  a permit  to  have 
some  women  workers  put  on  a night  shift.  The  only  con- 
solation he  received  was  “All  these  cases  have  to  be  passed 
upon  by  the  Woman  in  Industry  Service,  and  you’d  never 
get  by  them.  Better  go  back  home  and  manage  the  best 
you  can!”  Which  discreet  advice  was  duly  taken. 

The  fact  that  a few  exceptionally  skilled  or  specially 
trained  women  drew  large  pay  in  munition  plants  gave  rise 
to  the  popular  illusion  that  women’s  wages  had  been  per- 
manently raised  all  ro\md.  The  Woman  in  Industry  Ser- 
vice found  little  evidence  to  support  this  idea.  Wages  in 
the  candy  trade,  for  instance,  had  before  the  war  been  very 
poor.  After  the  armistice  was  signed,  inquiries  were  made 
in  Philadelphia,  and  it  was  found  that  the  wages  were  still 
so  low  that  they  had  not  nearly  caught  up  with  the 
increased  cost  of  living.  Besides  this,  candy  making  is  so 
irregular  a trade  that  days  and  weeks  out  of  work  are  not 
uncommon.  While  there  is  then  no  money  coming  in,  food 
and  rent  have  to  be  met  just  the  same;  clothes  have  an 


THE  WOMEN’S  BUREAU 


177 


unhappy  knack  of  wearing  out,  and  a doctor’s  bill  to  be 
met  either  for  the  girl  herself  or  for  someone  belonging  to 
her  is  always  a dreaded  possibility. 

Who  would  think  of  such  a trifling  article  of  wear  as 
garters  implying  waste  of  child  life,  the  spread  of  infectious 
illness,  and  wretchedly  low  wages  paid  for  the  work  of 
mothers  in  their  own  homes?  And  yet  that  was  what  was 
found  in  Bridgeport,  Connecticut — ^typical,  doubtless,  of 
what  exists  in  many  lesser  Bridgeports. 

It  has  been  said  that  of  all  the  hard  fates  to  be  met,  the 
very  hardest  that  the  American-born  child  can  face  is  to 
be  born  a little  colored  girl  baby.  And  this  sad  truth  is 
here  put  in  words  that  may  be  reserved  in  expression,  but 
contain  depths  of  suffering  for  our  colored  sisters.  Repre- 
sentatives of  the  Woman  in  Industry  Service,  on  one  trip, 
visited  156  establishments  in  the  Middle  -West,  employing 
over  16,000  Negro  women  and  it  is  written  thus:  “General 
standards  for  this  class  of  workers  were  found  to  be  de- 
cidedly more  restricted  than  those  of  other  women  workers!” 
“Lower  than  the  average!”  and  that  is  low  enough.  “Indus- 
trial opportunities  decidedly  more  restricted!”  and  how 
restricted  these  are  even  for  the  white  girl,  only  the  work- 
ing woman  knows. 

On  Monday,  November  11th,  1918,  the  very  day  the 
Armistice  was  signed.  Miss  Van  Kleeck  submitted  to  the 
Chairman  of  the  War  Labor  Policies  Board  a note,  urging 
that  women  be  recognized  as  in  industry  to  stay.  Shortly 
afterwards  the  Woman  in  Industry  Service  issued  what  was 
perhaps  its  most  far-reaching  and  important  bulletin.  This 
was  a small  pamphlet  entitled  “Standards  for  the  Employ- 
ment of  Women  in  Industry”  and  was  a statement  in  con- 
cise and  compact  form  of  the  hours,  wages  and  working 
conditions  which  were  recommended  for  the  employment  of 
women  in  industry.  These  standards  established  practically 


178  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


a “code”  for  women  in  industry  and  offered  a program  which 
was  welcomed  by  all  those  who  were  working  to  improve 
conditions. 

The  standards  had  been  drawn  up  with  the  advice  of  both 
employers  and  workers,  and  before  they  were  published  had 
received  the  endorsement  of  many  representative  organi- 
zations. The  pamphlet  had  an  immediate  and  most  phe- 
nomenal success,  and  has  been  used  extensively  throughout 
the  country,  being  now  in  its  third  edition,  more  than  one 
hundred  and  ten  thousand  having  been  distributed  to 
individuals  upon  their  request.  In  these  standards  among 
the  points  specially  dwelt  upon  was  the  need  of  equal  pay 
for  equal  work,  women  also  to  receive  whatever  propor- 
tionate increases  men  received.  Great  stress  was  laid  upon 
the  importance  of  workers  sharing  in  the  responsibility  for 
industrial  conditions.  Responsibility  can  be  placed,  how- 
ever, only  through  some  form  of  organization,  or,  as  the 
report  puts  it,  “The  genuine  co-operation  essential  to  pro- 
duction can  be  secured  only  if  definite  channels  of  com- 
munication between  employers  and  groups  of  employes  are 
established.” 

In  August,  1919,  Miss  Van  Kleeck  retired  and  Miss  Mary 
Anderson  was  appointed  her  successor.  The  Woman  in 
Industry  Service  was  guaranteed  temporary  existence  as 
a holdover,  but  its  future  was  most  precarious,  as  long  as  it 
was  only  an  emergency  institution  to  meet  the  demands  of 
war  times  or  even  of  the  reconstruction  period.  The  women’s 
organizations  therefore  redoubled  their  efforts  to  put  the 
Woman  in  Industry  Service  upon  a permanent  basis. 

After  a long  struggle,  and  many  disheartening  set-backs, 
the  Kenyon-Campbell  bill  was  finally  passed  in  June,  1920. 
This  established  a Women’s  Bureau  in  the  Department  of 
Labor  to  “formulate  standards  and  policies  which  shall 
promote  the  welfare  of  wage-earning  women,  improve  their 


THE  WOMEN’S  BUREAU 


179 


working  conditions,  and  advance  their  opportunities  for 
profitable  employment.”  The  Bureau  naturally  took  over 
the  organization  and  the  staff  of  the  Woman  in  Industry 
Service,  and  when  it  started  as  a Bureau,  had  already  to 
its  credit  a mass  of  information  and  reports. 

These  reports  covered  such  subjects  as: 

“The  Employment  of  Women  in  the  Government  Service.” 
This  report  disclosed  the  fact  that  women  were  not  allowed 
to  take  Civil  Service  examinations  for  a large  proportion  of 
the  positions  in  the  Government  service,  and  that  the  pre- 
vailing entrance  salaries  paid  to  women  were  much  lower 
than  those  paid  to  men.  As  soon  as  this  information  was 
brought  to  the  attention  of  the  Civil  Service  Commission 
all  examinations  were  opened  to  both  men  and  women. 

“Industrial  Training  for  Women  and  Girls” — a survey  of 
opportunities  in  industry  and  the  vocational  training  avail- 
able for  women. 

“The  Effect  of  Laws  Regulating  the  Employment  of 
Women  in  Industry.”  Two  studies  had  been  made  of  this 
subject,  one  showing  methods  of  employing  women  as  street 
car  conductors  and  ticket  agents  under  different  legal  regu- 
lations, the  other  showing  changes  in  the  employment  of 
women  in  the  electrical  and  rubber  industries  in  two  states, 
one  of  which  had  recently  established  a 48  hour  week  for 
women  while  the  other  permitted  a 60  hour  week. 

Investigations  had  been  made  of  labor  conditions  for 
women  in  Indiana,  of  the  possible  employment  of  women 
during  the  war  in  the  chemical  industry  in  Niagara  Falls, 
of  the  wages  of  women  candy  workers  in  Philadelphia,  and 
of  home  workers  in  Bridgeport,  Connecticut. 

Summaries  of  all  laws  affecting  women  in  industry  had 
been  prepared  in  chart  and  pamphlet  form;  exhibit  material 
in  the  form  of  colored  maps  illustrating  the  status  of  the 
different  states  in  regard  to  legislation  for  women,  and 


180  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


posters  illustrating  standards  for  the  employment  of  women 
in  industry,  were  in  circulation,  and  the  Woman  in  Industry 
Service  in  the  two  years  of  its  existence  had  become  known 
over  a large  territory  as  a consulting  and  policy  forming 
agency  which  could  give  valuable  information  regarding  the 
problems  of  the  employment  of  women  in  industry. 

During  the  two  years  since  the  establishment  of  the 
Women’s  Bureau  similar  work  has  been  carried  on  until, 
to  glance  over  what  has  been  accomplished  up  to  the 
beginning  of  1923,  is  indeed  to  cover  a wide  field. 

A number  of  state  investigations  have  been  carried  out 
and  in  time  doubtless  we  shall  know  something  of  the  con- 
ditions under  which  wage  earning  women  work  in  everj' 
state  in  the  Union.  If  there  is  one  lesson  more  than  another 
that  has  been  driven  home  to  us  through  these  inquiries  it 
is  the  need  for  common  legislation,  and  the  only  legisla- 
tion which  can  include  residents  of  every  state  is  federal 
legislation.  We  see  this  illustrated  in  graphic  fashion  in 
the  colored  charts  issued  by  the  Bureau.  Look  over  a 
series  of  maps  tinted  in  a regular  checkerboard  fashion  in 
a variety  of  patterns  according  to  whether  it  is  a pictiu-e 
of  women’s  daily  legal  working  hours  or  of  their  weekly 
hours,  or  a chart  of  how  long  they  may  work  at  night, 
or  in  which  states  there  are  wage  laws.  You  will  be  dazed 
and  bewildered,  and  touched  with  a sense  of  the  feebleness 
and  futility  of  it  all.  Nature  turns  us  out  physically  pretty 
much  on  the  same  model  and  if  the  women  in  Massachu- 
setts or  Minnesota  or  Oregon  need  to  have  their  wage 
standardized  then  their  sisters  in  Pennsylvania  or  West 
Virginia  or  Texas  need  it  just  as  much.  Here  is  what  is 
happening  in  Virginia  : 

A typical  story  of  the  fife  of  a working  woman  whose  hours  are 
from  7.30  a.  m.  to  6 p.  m.  was  told  to  one  of  the  investigators  by 


THE  WOMEN’S  BUREAU 


181 


the  woman  herself.  Deserted  by  her  husband  and  with  two  little 
children  to  support,  she  went  to  work  in  a tobacco  factory.  To 
be  at  the  factory  at  7.30  she  had  to  get  up  at  5.30,  cook  break- 
fast, dress  the  children  and  take  them  to  a day  nursery,  leaving 
home  at  6.30.  As  the  factory  did  not  close  until  six  in  the  eve- 
ning she  had  to  stop  for  the  children  on  the  way  home,  and  did 
not  get  home  until  7 o’clock.  Then  the  housework  must  be  done, 
and  the  children’s  clothes  made,  with  the  result  that  bedtime  did 
not  come  much  before  midnight.  This  is  not  a story  of  an  isolated 
case.  Fifty-nine  women  were  interviewed  by  the  investigators 
and  37  of  them  supported  others  than  themselves,  21  being  re- 
sponsible for  the  care  and  maintenance  of  children.  The  women 
who  were  interviewed  were  selected  entirely  by  chance,  as  they 
were  met  in  the  factory,  in  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.,  at  the  day  nurseries, 
or  in  their  homes,  so  they  can  be  considered  to  be  fairly  repre- 
sentative of  the  entire  group  of  working  women  who  were  in- 
cluded in  the  survey. 

So  much  for  long  hours.  As  to  night  work,  compara- 
tively few  women  in  Virginia  were  found  working  at  night, 
still  a mere  trifle  of  over  seven  hundred  women  were  em- 
ployed by  establishments  operating  night  shifts.  The  moral 
drawn  by  the  Bureau  is  that  it  might  be  well  to  check 
night  work  before  it  becomes  a common  practice. 

The  particular  hardship  to  women  of  employment  during 
the  night  hours,  which  has  been  emphasized  many  times 
in  different  reports  and  investigations,  was  brought  out 
again  by  the  Women’s  Bureau  investigators  in  stories  of 
several  women  who  worked  at  night  in  a tobacco  factory 
in  one  city  in  the  state. 

Mrs. was  waiting  at  7 p.  m.  to  see  if  she  could  get  a job 

on  the  night  shift.  Her  husband  was  living  and  working,  but  she 
had  been  sick  ever  since  her  baby  came,  about  three  months  ago, 
and  they  had  gotten  into  debt.  She  couldn’t  leave  the  baby  day 
times,  but  her  husband  could  look  out  for  him  at  night.  She  had 


182  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


worked  in  the  factory  before  the  baby  came,  almost  up  to  the 
time  he  was  bom,  but  had  “pleurisy  and  fever”  ever  since.  Doc- 
tor didn’t  want  her  to  go  to  work  but  she  felt  she  must. 

Mrs. did  day  work  during  the  summer  but  did  not  like 

it  because  it  kept  her  away  from  the  children.  She  has  two  chil- 
dren, one  5 and  one  4 years  old,  and  another  coming  in  a couple 
of  months.  Her  husband  works  in  another  state  and  sends  money 
home,  but  not  enough.  By  working  at  night  she  can  be  vith  the 
children  and  do  the  housework  in  the  daytime.  She  sleeps  a 
couple  of  hours  in  the  morning  and  a couple  in  the  afternoon. 
Her  sister-in-law  stays  with  the  children  at  night. 

Surely  it  is  in  the  interest  of  the  state  to  see  that  such 
sacrifices  as  these  shall  not  be  required  or  permitted.  Under 
the  strain  of  this  double  work  women  are  unable  to  give 
either  family  or  industry  the  attention  and  interest  which 
are  needed  by  both. 

There  is,  however,  another  moral  to  be  drawn  and  that 
is  that  the  chief  evil  of  long  hours  or  of  night  work  is  the 
fact  that  the  longer  hours  women  w’^ork  and  the  more  they 
are  engaged  in  night  work,  the  more  surely  are  they  women 
carrying  on  two  jobs.  Tw'o  jobs  mean  the  sapping  of 
efficiency,  ruin  to  health,  the  absence  of  all  social  or  family 
life,  disaster  to  childhood  and  utter  misery  to  the  unfor- 
tunate mother  herself.  Worse  still  is  home  work.  For  an 
illustration  of  this,  let  us  go  to  Bridgeport,  Connecticut, 
where  pregnant  women  were  found  working  on  footpower 
machines,  and  carrying  hea\y  packages  of  work  to  and 
from  the  factory.  One  such  poor  woman  used  to  draw  a 
little  express  cart  a distance  of  two  miles  to  save  carfare, 
and  then  carried  her  bundle  up  three  fiights  of  stairs.  A 
little  girl  of  nine  in  another  home  was  operating  a foot- 
press  used  in  finishing  garters.  When  asked  “Wlien  do 
you  have  time  for  play?”  her  answer  was  “Sometimes  on 
Sunday!” 


THE  WOMEN’S  BUREAU 


183 


Principally  through  the  extensive  organization  of  the 
clothing  trade,  home  work  has  been  abolished  to  a great 
extent  in  the  larger  centers,  but  when  we  go  outside  of  these 
centers,  into  smaller  cities  in  many  of  the  smaller  trades, 
the  Bureau  has  found  home  work  in  full  swing.  Home 
work  is  a combination  of  every  possible  evil.  It  means 
endless  hours,  night  work,  insanitary  conditions,  neglect 
and  overwork  of  children.  It  means  irregular  and  incredi- 
bly low  wages  and  the  carrying  by  the  worker  of  a large 
part  of  the  overhead  expense  of  the  manufacturer.  Why 
should  the  worker,  asks  the  Bureau,  supply  housing,  heat- 
ing, lighting,  equipment  and  frequently  machinery?  There- 
fore, the  Director  recommends  that  home  work  be  gradually 
eliminated  after  steps  have  been  taken  to  prevent  hardship 
in  individual  families. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  that  in  most  of  the  recommenda- 
tions the  Bureau  emphasizes  the  point  that  the  standards 
of  limitations  of  hours,  home  work  and  sanitation  should 
not  be  considered  as  applying  only  to  women,  for  men,  too, 
are  the  victims  of  industrial  pressure,  but  as  applying 
especially  to  women  because  of  their  double  function  as 
wage  earners  and  as  mothers,  and  any  injury  they  suffer 
is  inevitably  passed  on,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  the  next 
generation. 

More  and  more  is  the  Bureau  invading  that  stronghold  of 
industrial  poverty,  the  Solid  South.  It  is  gratifying  to 
know  that  this  is  being  done  at  the  request  and  with  the 
co-operation  of  the  finest  and  most  patriotic  citizens  of  the 
southern  states,  both  men  and  women.  A special  report 
upon  Negro  women  in  industry  has  just  been  published. 

Most  interesting  is  the  publicity  put  out  by  the  Bimeau. 
Besides  special  reports  and  annual  reports,  there  is  a news 
service  and  more  popular  than  any  is  a two-reel  motion 
picture  film,  illustrating  standards  for  the  employment  of 


184  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


women  in  industry,  entitled  “When  Women  Work.”  The 
film  is  lent  free  of  charge  to  organizations  who  satisfy  the 
Bureau  that  they  will  put  it  to  good  use,  all  expenses  of 
transportation  and  showing  being  met  by  the  borrowers. 
During  the  first  year  the  film  was  released,  beginning 
December,  1920,  it  was  shown  by  67  organizations  in  26 
States  and  the  District  of  Columbia. 

The  value  of  the  Bureau’s  work  is  seen  in  other  direc- 
tions. Not  only  are  there  repeated  requests  for  special 
articles  on  different  subjects  pertaining  to  women  in  indus- 
try, but  members  of  the  staff  are  frequently  called  in  for 
consultation  by  employers  and  others  who  wish  informa- 
tion on  methods  of  improving  conditions.  One  manufac- 
turer whose  plant  was  visited  during  the  course  of  one  of 
the  state  investigations  made  by  the  Bureau,  asked  that  its 
representatives  assist  him  in  making  plans  for  standards 
and  equipment  in  a new  plant  which  he  was  planning  to 
open. 

Other  studies  which  have  been  made  by  the  Bureau 
include  a detailed  analysis  of  the  material  which  can  be 
obtained  from  the  Census  schedules,  showing  the  social 
importance  of  much  of  the  information  which  appears  on 
Census  schedules,  but  which  the  Bureau  of  the  Census, 
because  of  lack  of  appropriation,  has  been  unable  to  com- 
pile. A study  has  been  made  of  the  changes  in  the  occupa- 
tional status  of  women  as  shown  by  comparing  the  figures 
in  the  census  reports  for  1910  and  1920.  The  investigators 
have  also  turned  to  the  records  of  the  United  States  Patent 
Office,  and  a report  has  been  prepared  showing  the  great 
number  and  scope  of  inventions  which  have  been  patented 
by  women  during  the  past  ten  years. 

The  United  States,  however,  will  not  be  able  to  make 
full  use  of  the  Bureau  until  there  is  in  every  state  a cor- 
responding women’s  bureau  in  the  state  department  of 


THE  WOMEN’S  BUREAU 


185 


labor.  As  we  have  seen,  the  Federal  Women’s  Bureau 
has  no  power  of  administration.  Strictly  speaking,  it  has 
no  laws  to  administer.  Labor  laws  are  state  laws,  and 
their  enforcement  is  a state  function.  The  work  of  the 
Women’s  Bureau  in  investigating,  in  advising  legislation, 
and  furnishing  information  to  state  departments,  and  in 
educating  public  opinion  up  to  demanding  high  and  uniform  ^ 
standards  in  industry,  can  become  effective  only  as  the 
states  are  equipped  with  the  machinery  to  make  it  effective. 
An  indispensable  part  of  such  machinery  is  the  state 
women’s  bmeau. 

At  present  there  are  but  four  states  meeting  in  whole 
and  five  states  meeting  in  part  this  requirement.  Minne- 
sota heads  the  list  with  its  Bureau  of  Women  and  Chil- 
dren established  in  1913  and  now  under  the  State  Industrial 
Commission.  Wisconsin  has  under  its  Industrial  Commis- 
sion a Woman’s  Department.  New  York  in  1919  estab- 
lished the  Women’s  Bureau  in  the  State  Department  of 
Labor.  But  the  measure  establishing  it  provided  no  funds 
for  its  support.  Accordingly  for  the  first  year  of  its 
existence  its  cost  was  met  from  a private  fund,  raised  by 
the  civic  spirited  women  citizens  of  the  State.  Indiana 
has  a Department  of  Women  and  Children  in  the  Industrial 
Board. 

In  the  five  States  of  Washington,  Oregon,  California, 
Kansas,  and  Massachusetts,  although  there  is  no  separate 
bureau  or  division  for  the  interests  of  women,  there  is  a 
woman  member  on  the  Industrial  Commission  who  has  a 
certain  amount  of  authority. 


Chapter  X 


WORKING  WOMEN  AND  TTTe  WAR 

During  the  universal  confusion  attendant  upon  the 
declaration  of  war  by  so  many  European  nations  simul- 
taneously, there  was  very  great  ignorance  as  to  the  in- 
dustrial situation  in  the  countries  actually  engaged,  and 
hardly  less  ignorance  as  to  what  was  taking  place  among 
ourselves  as  the  indirect  result  of  the  happenings  on  the 
other  side  of  the  Atlantic.  To  take  the  European  situation 
first,  and  Great  Britain  as  typical  of  Europe,  what  hap- 
pened was  this:  War  had  come  overnight.  Industry'  was 
dislocated.  Men  were  enlisting  on  all  sides.  A sudden 
strain  was  put  upon  all  those  trades  which  manufactured 
anything  that  could  conceivably  be  used  in  -war,  or  for 
the  support  of  the  army.  Strange  to  say,  the  first  effect 
upon  the  women  workers  was  a scarcity  of  emplo^-ment,  for 
the  larger  number  of  women  had  been  engaged  in  producing 
not  the  basic  necessities  of  life,  but  largely  superfluities, 
such  as  fancy  goods  and  articles  of  adornment,  and  the  de- 
mand for  these  immediately  fell  off.  The  resulting  slowing 
down  of  industry,  while  hard  to  meet,  proved  to  be  a tem- 
porary condition,  and  before  long  there  was  a call  for 
women  to  enter  every  other  kind  of  occupation,  manufac- 
turers as  a whole  being  over’whelmed  with  orders.  As  the 
universal  impression  was  that  the  war  would  soon  be  over, 
there  was  no  limit  to  the  hours  worked,  either  by  the  men 
who  were  left  or  by  the  women  newly  drawn  in.  Night 
work  and  Sunday  work  became  the  rule  in  many  factories 

186 


WORKING  WOMEN  AND  THE  WAR 


187 


and  the  trade  unions  saw  the  results  of  more  than  half  a 
century’s  effort  swept  away.  At  the  end  of  the  first  year, 
dissatisfaction  was  widespread.  The  production  of  war 
supplies  was  inadequate  to  meet  military  needs,  and  at  the 
same  time  the  workers  were  discontented  and  rebellious. 
The  Government  appointed  a committee  to  look  into  the 
health  of  the  munition  workers.  The  investigators  made 
remarkable  discoveries  and  prescribed  drastic  remedies. 
They  recommended  for  adult  males  a maximum  working 
week  of  65  hours  with  a rest  of  one  day  in  seven;  for 
women,  not  over  60  hours,  and  advised  that  the  factories 
should  provide  proper  arrangements  for  eating,  suitable 
sanitary  equipment  with  doctors  and  nurses  in  attendance 
to  treat  accidents,  and  should  also  take  all  possible  pre- 
cautions against  industrial  poisoning.  The  results  were  as 
startling  as  they  had  been  unexpected.  One  example  given 
was  that  of  a group  of  men  on  very  heavy  work  who  had 
their  hours  reduced  from  61  to  55  and  who  yet  increased 
their  total  output  by  ten  per  cent. 

The  committee  found  that  even  paying  overtime  was  a 
poor  remedy  for  the  evil  of  continuous  seven  day  work.  As 
one  foreman  tersely  put  it:  “Sunday  work  gives  six  days’ 
output  for  seven  days’  work  for  eight  days’  pay.”  The  com- 
mittee went  on  “except  for  short  periods,  continuous  work 
{i.e.,  the  seven  day  week)  is  a profound  mistake  and  does 
not  pay.  Output  is  not  increased,  . . . the  munition 

workers  in  general  have  been  allowed  to  reach  a state  of 
reduced  efficiency  and  lowered  health,  which  might  have 
been  avoided  without  reduction  of  output  by  attention  to 
the  details  of  daily  and  weekly  rest.” 

Very  much  the  same  reactions  were  observed  in  the  war- 
stimulated  industries  of  this  country.  The  minds  of  Amer- 
icans were  even  more  confused  on  account  of  our  distance 
from  the  scene  of  conflict,  the  vast  extent  of  territory  and 


188  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


the  division  of  the  industrial  sections  among  so  many  dif- 
ferent states,  each  one  with  its  own  labor  laws,  and  no  com- 
mon policy.  It  was  not  long  before  organized  labor,  social 
workers  and  women  leaders  discovered  the  evil  tendencies 
that  were  at  work  and  the  disastrous  results  to  our  young 
womanhood  of  the  high  pressure  imder  which  they  were 
being  compelled  to  work. 

The  investigations  made  by  Miss  Amy  Hewes,  Professor 
of  Economics  at  Mount  Holyoke  College,  in  1916,  for  the 
Russell  Sage  Foundation,  showed  that  in  the  munition 
plants  of  Bridgeport,  "the  new  world  arsenal,”  increasing 
speed  of  production  was  lengthening  daily  hours  and  im- 
posing night  work  upon  women,  while  the  rapid  growth  of 
a boom  town  created  congestion  and  confusion  in  living 
conditions  for  the  large  number  of  men  and  women  workers 
who  were  crowding  into  the  city  to  meet  the  new  demands 
for  labor.  Dr.  Alice  Hamilton,  now  assistant  professor  of 
Industrial  Diseases  at  Hansard,  covered  ten  states  in  her 
investigation  into  health  conditions  in  munition  plants  for 
the  United  States  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  and  she  found 
in  many  of  them  the  grossest  neglect  of  common  cleanliness, 
buildings  hurriedly  thrown  up,  no  washing  facilities  to  get 
rid  even  of  the  poisonous  dust,  nor  medical  care  to  prevent 
sickness.  The  installation  of  exhaust  systems  for  carrying 
off  fumes  and  dust  was  postponed  because  they  could  wait 
while  the  machinery  for  production  could  not.  "There  is 
no  way  of  knowing,”  she  says,  "how  much  illness  and  death 
resulted  from  this  mad  rush  to  get  out  explosives  in  a 
shorter  time  than  they  could  properly  be  made.” 

There  was  the  threat  from  every  quarter  of  the  wholesale 
abrogation  of  legal  protections  so  slowly  gained.  The 
United  States  Navy  Yard  went  on  a ten-hour  basis,  the 
first  breakdown  of  the  eight-hour  law  for  federal  employes. 
In  the  New  York  Legislature  the  fight  was  on  for  more  than 


WORKING  WOMEN  AND  THE  WAR 


189 


a year  to  throw  the  entire  labor  code  (even  including  the 
child  labor  law)  upon  the  scrap  heap.  From  many  groups 
elsewhere  came  the  demand  for  the  total  or  partial  aboli- 
tion of  all  restriction  upon  hours.  The  Governor  of  Ver- 
mont approved  an  Act,  empowering  the  authorities  to  sus- 
pend existing  laws  relating  to  the  employment  of  women 
and  children,  while  the  United  States  was  at  war.  In  New 
York  similar  action  was  taken,  but  was  vetoed  by  the 
Governor  of  that  State. 

The  advantages  of  long  years  of  co-operation  between 
the  groups  standing  for  humane  conditions  in  industry  were 
seen  when  in  opposition  to  the  demand,  a demand  in  some 
quarters  coldly  intentional,  in  others  merely  with  a foolish 
and  hysterical  motive,  all  these  large  organizations  came 
out  in  united  protest,  saying  that  it  was  for  those  who 
wished  labor  laws  abolished  to  show  cause  why  this  should 
be  done.  The  principal  bodies  were  the  American  Federa- 
tion of  Labor  and  many  of  its  internationals,  the  National 
Women’s  Trade  Union  League,  the  Consumers’  League,  the 
American  Association  for  Labor  Legislation,  the  National 
Child  Labor  Committee,  the  National  American  Woman 
Suffrage  Association  and  the  National  Young  Women’s 
Christian  Association.  Their  position  was  strengthened  by 
the  information,  by  this  time  made  public,  regarding  Great 
Britain’s  experience  and  how  she  had  had  to  retrace  her 
steps.  They  were  backed  by  the  statements  of  the  United 
States  Department  of  Labor,  emphasized  by  the  reports  of 
Miss  Julia  Lathrop  of  the  Children’s  Bureau.  Moreover, 
many  of  the  largest  employing  firms  and  of  the  best  em- 
ployers were  emphatic  in  urging  caution.  Mr.  Redfield, 
Secretary  of  Commerce,  cited  the  experience  of  his  own 
firm,  the  J.  H.  Williams  Company  of  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  as 
an  example  of  the  wisdom  and  economy  of  short  hours. 
Others  who  gave  evidence  of  the  business  advantages  of  the 


190  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


eight-hour  day  over  either  a ten  or  a twelve  hour  day  were 
the  Commonwealth  Steel  Company,  the  Solvay  Process 
Company  of  Syracuse,  N.  Y.,  Mr.  Thurston  Ballard  of 
Louisville,  Ky.,  the  Ford  Company,  the  Studebaker  Com- 
pany, the  McElwain  Shoe  Company,  and  the  Endicott 
and  Johnson  Shoe  Company  with  many  other  large  firms. 
Their  word  necessarily  carried  great  weight  with  the  general 
public.  Before  long,  as  a result  of  united  and  intelligent 
effort  and  of  the  collecting  of  evidence  that  could  not  be 
disproved,  efforts  to  have  laws,  and  especially  those  labor 
laws  covering  women  workers,  revoked  by  State  Legisla- 
tures, gradually  ceased. 

The  Government  came  out  with  an  announcement  sup- 
porting labor  laws  and  pleading  with  the  states  to  take  no 
hasty  steps  to  weaken  them,  except  it  were  at  the  request 
of  the  Council  of  National  Defense.  This  action  had  the 
approval  of  Mr.  Newton  Baker,  Secretary  of  War;  Mr. 
Josephus  Daniels,  Secretary  of  the  Na^^',  and  Fir.  Philan- 
der Claxton,  Commissioner  of  the  Bureau  of  Education. 
But,  meanwhile,  it  was  necessary  to  keep  an  eye  upon  cer- 
tain of  the  Government  Departments  which  were  by  no 
means  keeping  to  the  Government’s  declared  policy.  A 
striking  instance  of  this  was  the  Government  Bureau  of 
Engraving  and  Printing.  It  is  stated  that  Director  Ralph 
had  had  1,633  girls  working  overtime;  that  overtime 
had  been  a frequent  practice  for  the  previous  three  years; 
that  545  of  the  girls  were  working  from  twelve  to  thirteen 
hours  a day,  during  which  time  they  received  two  ten- 
minute  rest  periods  and  two  half-hour  lunch  periods.  All 
this  time  there  were  great  numbers  of  competent  girls  on 
the  Civil  Service  waiting  list.  Private  employers  in  the 
District  of  Columbia,  on  the  other  hand,  were  compelled  to 
observe  the  eight-hour  day  and  allow  three-quarters  of  an 
hour  for  Irmch. 


WORKING  WOMEN  AND  THE  WAR 


191 


The  women’s  organizations,  with  the  Washington  Com- 
mittee of  the  National  Women’s  Trade  Union  League  at 
their  head,  jointly  with  the  Women’s  Local  of  the  Bureau 
of  Engraving  and  Printing,  took  action.  Failing  to  get 
prompt  results,  they  laid  the  facts  before  Representative 
Jeannette  Rankin  of  Montana.  Miss  Rankin  paid  a sur- 
prise visit  to  the  Bureau,  satisfied  herself  that  the  situation 
was  fully  as  bad  as  had  been  represented,  and,  from  her 
seat  in  the  House,  asked  for  an  investigation.  Within  less 
than  two  weeks  the  entire  force  was  placed  upon  an  eight- 
hour  basis.  In  October  of  the  same  year  the  Director  of 
the  Bureau,  Mr.  Joseph  Ralph,  tendered  his  resignation. 
When  the  new  Director  had  been  in  office  three  months  the 
Bureau  was  turning  out  more  work  than  ever  and  with  a 
much  smaller  staff.  This  was  not  because  there  had  been 
wholesale  dismissals,  but  merely  because  when  girls  had 
left  in  the  ordinary  way  it  had  not  been  found  necessary  to 
fill  their  places. 

Early  in  1918  the  President  appointed  the  Secretary  of 
Labor,  Mr.  W.  B.  Wilson,  as  War  Labor  Administrator.  In 
order  to  obtain  the  counsel  of  those  immediately  concerned, 
he  created  an  Advisory  Council  to  plan  with  him,  and  in 
consultation  with  the  bureau  heads  of  the  Department,  the 
War  Labor  Administration.  This  accomplished,  the  activ- 
ities of  the  Advisory  Cotmcil  ended.  In  its  design  for  the 
War  Labor  Administration,  the  Advisory  Council  provided  ^ 
for  the  creation  of  the  War  Labor  Policies  Board,  to  { 
develop  plans  and  policies.  It  was  composed  of  repre- 
sentatives of  all  the  war  branches  of  the  government  which 
have  industrial  relations. 

As  recommended  by  the  Advisory  Council,  the  Secretary 
of  Labor,  upon  the  nomination  of  the  presidents  of  the 
A.  F.  of  L.  and  of  the  National  Industrial  Conference 
Board,  appointed  a War  Labor  Conference  Board,  to  devise. 


192  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


for  the  war  period,  an  acceptable  method  of  labor  adjust- 
ment. The  President,  in  accepting  the  Board’s  report, 
appointed  the  same  persons  as  a War  Labor  Board. 

The  War  Labor  Conference  Board  made  the  first  decla- 
ration of  principles  and  policy.  This  became  of  necessity 
the  guiding  policy  of  the  War  Labor  Board,  which  was 
appointed  as  a result  of  the  Conference  Board.  The  public 
announcement  of  the  standards  by  which  the  War  Labor 
Board  would  be  guided,  specifically  reserved  to  both  em- 
ployers and  workers  the  right  to  organize.  It  was  laid 
down  also  that  women  should  be  allowed  equal  pay  for 
equal  work,  and  should  not  be  allotted  tasks  disproportion- 
ate to  their  strength ; that  the  basic  eight-hour  day  should 
be  recognized  as  applying  in  all  cases  where  existing  law 
requires  it;  in  all  other  cases  hours  were  to  be  settled  with 
due  regard  to  governmental  necessities  and  the  health,  wel- 
fare and  proper  comfort  of  the  workers. 

The  living  wage,  which  was  the  credo  of  the  war  govern- 
ment, is  one  that  may  well  be  recommended  to  all  govern- 
ments in  power  in  time  of  peace: 

The  right  of  all  workers,  including  common  laborers,  to  a living 
wage  is  hereby  declared. 

In  fixing  wages,  minimum  rates  of  pay  shall  be  established, 
which  will  insure  the  subsistence  of  the  worker  and  his  family  in 
health  and  reasonable  comfort. 

Among  the  more  important  appointments  allotted  to 
trade  union  women  were  these: 

Agnes  Nestor,  glove  worker,  member  of  the  Advisory 
Council  to  the  Secretary  of  Labor,  and  member  of  the 
Woman’s  Committee  under  the  Council  of  Defense;  Me- 
linda Scott,  hat  trimmer,  Assistant  Director  in  the  United 
States  Employment  Service;  Mary  Anderson,  boot  and 
shoe  worker.  Assistant  Director  of  the  Woman  in  Industry 
Service  of  the  Department  of  Labor;  Elisabeth  Christman, 


WORKING  WOMEN  AND  THE  WAR 


193 


glove  worker,  Chief  of  the  Field  Representatives  of  the 
Woman’s  Division  of  the  War  Labor  Board;  Florence 
Thorne,  office  employe.  Assistant  Director  of  the  Working 
Conditions  Service  of  the  Department  of  Labor.* 

On  the  staff  of  the  War  Labor  Board  were  a number  of 
examiners,  both  men  and  women,  whose  duty  it  was  to  in- 
quire into  complaints,  and  afterwards  apply  the  awards. 
Miss  Marie  L.  Obenauer  was  chief  of  the  women  examiners. 
The  women  investigators,  under  Miss  Elisabeth  Christman 
(glove  worker) , gathered  the  facts  wherever  women 
workers  were  involved. 

When  Miss  Mary  E.  McDowell  returned  from  a trip  to 
France  and  England,  made  on  behalf  of  the  War  Work 
Council  of  the  National  Young  Women’s  Christian  Asso- 
ciation, she  urged  upon  Miss  Van  Kleeck  the  need  of  find- 
ing out  statistically  what  had  happened  to  women  after  the 
war  and  what  was  the  new  outlook  for  women  in  industry 
in  the  United  States.  There  was  much  information  already 
in  the  records  of  the  Bureau,  but  the  survey  as  a whole  had 
to  be  on  a larger  scale  than  the  Bureau  could  undertake. 
The  yearly  appropriation  of  the  Women’s  Bureau  was  too 
small  to  cover  such  a piece  of  work,  therefore,  again  at 
Miss  McDowell’s  suggestion,  the  survey  was  financed  by 
the  War  Work  Council.  The  report,  partly  based  upon  sta- 
tistics secured  by  federal  departments,  was  revised  and 
condensed  by  the  Women’s  Bureau  and  was  published  in 
August,  1920,  under  the  title,  “The  New  Position  of  Women 
in  American  Industry.”  From  this  report  we  can  build  up 
a picture  of  what  was  happening  during  all  the  four  years 
in  which  the  war  went  on,  but  especially  during  1917  and 
1918.  It  was  the  women  already  accustomed  to  the  strain 

* Agnes  Nestor  and  Melinda  Scott  were  included  by  President 
Gompers  on  the  Labor  Mission  sent  by  the  American  Federation  o£ 
Labor  to  England  and  France. 


194  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


and  pressure  of  factory  work  who  were  gradually  trans- 
ferred to  jobs  connected  with  the  war  industries.  Not  in- 
frequently they  were  transferred  as  a part  of  the  working 
force  of  a factory  which  had  been  making  cash  registers  or 
typewriters,  bath-tubs  or  bird-cages;  in  many  more  in- 
stances they  were  taken  away  from  their  own  job  of  as- 
sembling or  packing  and  put  to  the  actual  making  of  shells, 
the  operating  of  lathes  or  the  grinding  of  lenses.  But  even 
when  all  the  experienced  women  workers  in  the  country 
were  thus  employed  in  positions  vacated  by  the  drafted 
men,  there  was  still  found  room,  particularly  after  the  sec- 
ond draft,  for  tens  of  thousands  of  women,  many  of  them 
married  women,  who  had  had  no  training  in  any  occupa- 
tion, who  had  never  before  worked  for  wages,  but  whom 
employers  were  only  too  glad  to  engage. 

The  Director  of  Munitions  reported  of  one  plant  making 
gas  masks: 

Of  the  12,000  employes  in  this  plant,  8,500  were  women. 
. . . The  degree  of  care  required  in  the  manufacture  of 
masks  was  beyond  anything  in  normal  industry,  . . . after 
every  operation  in  the  manufacture  of  the  face  piece,  there  came 
an  inspection  by  specially  trained  women  set  apart  from  the 
operators. 

The  textile  industry  was  one  in  which  women  had  always 
been  engaged,  and  here  the  results  are  not  so  easy  to  ana- 
lyze. “Textiles"  no  longer  meant  merely  material  for 
clothing  and  house  furnishings;  it  meant  canvas  for  tents, 
canteen  covers,  mail  bags,  covers  for  tools.  Factories  which 
had  been  making  carpets,  lace,  hose  and  lamp  wicks,  turned 
over  their  plants  entirely  to  the  manufacture  of  cotton  duck 
and  cotton  webbing.  The  new  industry  of  the  manufacture 
of  airplanes  required  silk  for  parachutes;  silk,  linen  and 
cotton  for  airplane  wings.  In  the  manufacture  of  all  these 


WORKING  WOMEN  AND  THE  WAR 


195 


goods  there  was  at  first  a small  decrease  of  women  and  a 
larger  decrease  of  men.  The  women  had  been  drawn  into 
the  new  war  industries,  the  men  had  been  drafted.  Of  the 
women  who  were  employed,  almost  all  continued  to  do  the 
same  kind  of  work  that  they  had  always  done,  that  is,  to 
perform  the  same  or  similar  processes  even  though  the  tex- 
ture of  the  woven  product  might  be  very  different. 

A collection  of  letters  from  employers  on  the  whole  reflect 
general  satisfaction  with  the  work  of  women.  One  man,  the 
secretary  and  treasurer  of  a metal  manufacturing  company 
in  Tennessee,  wrote: 

Our  employes  are  practically  100  per  cent  citizens  of  the 
United  States.  The  women  have  replaced  men  mainly  in  our 
sheet  metal  manufacturing  plant.  These  are  paid  by  the  piece, 
the  tasks  are  accomplished  the  same  as  by  men,  and  they  are 
consequently  paid  the  same  compensation.  They  use  the  same 
machinery  and  are  equipped  the  same.  We  expect  to  continue 
employment  of  women  in  these  occupations.  They  are  given  the 
same  training  and  supervision.  We  consider  them  equal  to  men 
in  point  of  success. 

The  president  of  an  electric  and  manufacturing  company 
in  Pennsylvania  gave  his  opinion. 

The  number  of  girls  we  employed  during  the  war  was  limited 
only  by  the  supply.  We  employed  about  2,000  in  our  main  plant 
and  about  300  of  these  were  working  in  operations  which  had 
never  been  performed  by  girls  before.  AU  the  girls  who  were 
employed  on  imusual  operations  were  put  through  special  train- 
ing rooms,  and  this  practice  is  being  continued.  The  operations 
on  which  we  will  use  women  in  the  future  will  be  determined  by 
the  demands  upon  us  and  the  supply  of  labor. 

In  some  cases  the  results  were  not  so  happy.  From  the 
manager  of  a manufacturing  company  in  Oregon  where 


196  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


the  women  were  sorting  and  handling  light  lumber  in  the 
planing-mill  department,  at  approximately  80  per  cent 
of  the  rate  paid  men: 

We  could  not  say  they  were  either  a success  or  a failure  in  the 
experiment,  but  simply  a necessity  arising  out  of  the  fact  that 
136  out  of  our  750  employes  went  into  the  service  and  someone 
had  to  take  their  places.  As  soon  as  the  necessity  passed,  we 
went  back  to  our  old  program.  We  do  not  think  women  should 
be  or  can  be  successfully  employed  in  lumber  manufacturing, 
although  there  is  a place  for  them  in  box  factories  and  other  in- 
dustries connected  with  the  lumber  business,  w^here  the  work  is 
not  as  heavy  as  in  our  operations. 

A very  careful  analysis  of  a great  many  letters  would  be 
necessary  before  making  too  many  inferences.  Yet  there 
is  on  the  whole  no  question  but  that  the  women  made  good. 
Even  in  the  absence  of  a careful  comparison  of  results  on 
a greater  scale  than  was  possible,  the  following  are  some  of 
the  allowances  that  must  be  made:  The  bulletin  points  out 
that  the  failures  were  not  always  chargeable  to  the  women 
themselves.  “Some  were  clearly  due  to  ill-advised  assign- 
ments to  women  to  tasks  without  adequate  instruction; 
others  to  tasks  inherently  unsuited  to  a woman’s  physique. 
Loading  lumber  and  wheeling  and  shoveling  coal  are  among 
the  occupations  performed  by  women  as  a war  emergency, 
and  they  do  not  figure  conspicuously  among  the  occupa- 
tions in  which  women  were  recorded  as  making  a success 
or  among  those  in  which  women  are  being  retained  after 
the  war. 

« « * » * 

The  critical  analysis  of  the  results  of  substitution  will 
show  also  frequent  failures  because  of  marked  and  obvious 
deficiencies  in  equipment  and  accommodations  for  women 
workers.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  not  to  be  expected  that 


WORKING  WOMEN  AND  THE  WAR 


197 


among  a great  number  of  women  drawn  into  new  occupa- 
tions or  new  industries,  the  incompetent,  the  indifferent  and 
the  incorrigible  will  not  be  present.  The  world’s  wastrels 
beget  girls  as  well  as  boys  and  both  make  their  intermittent 
trails  through  industry  in  war  times  as  well  as  in  peace 
time.  But  all  of  these  failures  combined  do  not  offer  a 
substantial  check  to  the  general  stream  of  evidence  of  the 
successful  service  rendered  by  wage-earning  women  in  the 
nation’s  stern  task  of  equipping  its  fighting  forces  with 
weapons  of  warfare.  The  failures  from  all  causes  are  too 
few  or  too  inconspicuous  to  challenge  the  direct  testimony 
of  the  War  Department  or  of  the  employers  holding  import- 
ant war  orders  and  making  extensive  use  of  woman  labor 
during  the  war.  They  are  not  enough  to  overcome  the 
evidence  of  service  presented  by  the  increasing  numbers  of 
women  engaged  in  new  occupations  during  the  war.  Least 
of  all  do  they  bulk  large  enough  to  contradict  the  force  of 
evidence  borne  by  the  proportion  of  firms  retaining  women 
after  the  signing  of  the  armistice  in  the  occupations  and 
industries  where  woman  labor  was  employed  at  first  only 
as  a war  emergency.” 

One  very  discouraging  element  in  the  situation  cannot 
be  overlooked.  The  woman  worker  had  not  only  to  learn 
a new  occupation  under  conditions  of  unusual  difliculty; 
she  had  not  only  to  accustom  herself  to  face  novel  respon- 
sibilities, and  often  to  overcome  the  masculine  prejudice  of 
employers;  she  had  to  do  all  this  without  the  co-operation 
of  her  brother  workmen,  in  most  cases,  in  face  of  their 
opposition.  On  this  the  bulletin  is  explicit. 

In  this  connection  it  should  be  remembered  that  the  machine 
crafts  and  other  crafts  in  which  women  were  employed  as  skilled 
workers  were  highly  organized;  that  while  women  are  not  usually 
debarred  officially,  are  in  fact  often  formally  eligible  to  member- 
ship— the  real  attitude  toward  the  admission  of  women  has  been 


198  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


one  of  indifference  generally  and  the  attitude  toward  the  exten- 
sion of  woman  labor  in  skilled  crafts  has  often  been  one  of  posi- 
tive hostility.  There  were  some  conspicuous  exceptions  particu- 
larly during  the  war,  but  the  significant  fact  is  that  they  were 
exceptions. 

The  experience  of  the  women  car  conductors  of  Cleveland 
brought  before  the  War  Labor  Board,  to  which  the  press 
gave  nation-wide  publicity,  is  a case  in  point. 

There  is  nothing  so  confusing  and  nothing  more  paralyz- 
ing than  diametrically  opposite  plans  of  action  dealt  out  to 
a similar  group,  A telling  instance  of  this  is  what  has 
happened  to  women  street  car  conductors  and  ticket  agents 
in  different  cities.  During  the  war,  the  greatest  pressure 
was  brought  to  bear  upon  women  to  enter  every  occupation 
stripped  for  the  time  of  its  men  employes.  One  of  these 
occupations  was  that  of  conductor  on  street  cars.  On  the 
street  cars  of  Cleveland  women  were  first  employed  in 
1917  when  the  United  States  Employment  Service  was 
advertising  the  fact  that  there  was  a shortage  of  36,000 
men  for  the  conduct  of  essential  industries  in  that  section 
of  Ohio  alone.  The  women  conductors  were  trained  for  the 
work  in  a training  school  established  by  the  company 
because  the  men  conductors  refused  to  teach  them.  They 
were  paid  the  same  wages  and  came  imder  all  the  rules 
applicable  to  men.  They  were  self-supporting  women, 
two-thirds  of  them  also  supporting  children  or  parents. 
Twenty-six  had  husbands  or  sons  in  the  army.  The  women 
conductors’  work  was  primarily  that  of  cashier.  The  doors 
of  the  Cleveland  cars  open  and  close  with  an  automatic 
device  upon  pressure  of  a button  or  else  by  a light  lever 
which  requires  but  the  turning  of  a hand.  The  car  barns 
are  clean  and  comfortable,  with  separate  waiting  rooms  for 
men  and  women,  the  women’s  department  being  fitted  up 
neatly  as  a sitting  room  and  rest  room,  with  a matron  in 


WORKING  WOMEN  AND  THE  WAR 


199 


charge.  A representative  of  the  National  Women's  Trade 
Union  League  who  made  inquiry  on  the  ground  remarked 
that  there  are  a dozen  kinds  of  work  historically  accepted 
as  a “woman’s  job”  which  are  harder  physically,  more  dis- 
agreeable and  associated  with  more  undesirable  surround- 
ings than  was  the  work  of  the  women  conductors  of 
Cleveland. 

In  spite  of  these  facts,  the  men  of  Division  268  of  the 
Amalgamated  Association  of  Street  and  Railway  Employes 
(Cleveland)  demanded  the  dismissal  of  the  150  women  con- 
ductors of  the  Cleveland  Street  Railway  Company  and  they 
actually  went  out  on  strike  to  enforce  their  demands.  The 
women  could  not  be  called  scabs,  for  they  had  applied  for 
membership  in  the  association.  The  Amalgamated,  how- 
ever, both  through  the  local  and  national  officers  refused  to 
admit  the  women  as  members,  because  to  do  so  would 
extend  to  the  women  protection  against  dismissal. 

The  National  War  Labor  Board  on  December  3,  1918, 
rendered  a decision  ordering  the  dismissal  of  the  women. 
That  it  was  a dog  in  the  manger  policy  that  the  imion  men 
were  pursuing  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  at  that  very 
time  the  Cleveland  Street  Railway  was  not  running  all  its 
cars  because  it  could  not  obtain  the  crews  to  man  them. 

In  Detroit  the  attitude  of  the  men  car  conductors  was 
much  the  same.  In  Kansas  City  the  union  men  did  not  ask 
for  the  dismissal  of  the  women,  but  that  they  should  be 
guaranteed  the  same  minimum  rates  as  men.  This  request 
the  War  Labor  Board  supported,  and  the  guarantee  was 
accordingly  raised.  Later,  during  a strike  called  to  oblige 
the  Company  to  accept  other  conditions  in  the  award, 
almost  all  of  the  women  went  out  with  the  men.  This  is 
an  instance  of  the  possibility  of  co-operation  between  men 
and  women  in  the  same  occupation. 

Every  age,  every  country,  every  social  group  has  had  its 


200  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


own  theories  as  to  the  work  for  which  women  were  or  are 
best  fitted.  The  industrial  revolution  drove  women  out  of 
the  home  to  follow  their  traditional  occupations,  the  pro- 
ducing of  clothing  and  the  preparation  of  food.  Specializa- 
tion in  many  of  the  machine  industries  drove  other  women 
into  machine  plants,  because  they  were  cheap  and  readily 
trained  in  unskilled  processes  to  replace  the  former  skilled 
man  operative.  The  enormous  development  in  our  own 
day  of  transportation  and  communication  created  the 
modern  office  employments,  and  women  form  the  great  bulk 
of  office  employes.  Women  went  into  teaching  in  great 
numbers  for  the  first  time  after  the  Civil  War. 

It  would  seem  therefore  to  be  self-evident  that  any  very 
rigid  theory  as  to  what  is  or  is  not  women’s  vocation  in 
the  working  world  is  of  very  doubtful  value,  seeing  that 
tso  many  former  theories  have  for  this  generation  passed 
into  forgetfulness.  If  there  is  anything  unchanging  it  is 
the  fact  of  change.  Appreciating  this  it  is  important  to 
observe  that  the  great  and  unique  change  which  we  can 
see  has  already  been  wrought  during  the  last  few  j^ears  and 
is  already  registering  its  effects  on  the  entire  status  of  the 
woman  worker,  has  been  the  opening  of  a new  door,  a door 
that  is  not  likely  ever  to  be  closed  to  many  skilled  opera- 
tions for  women.  This  has  been  of  universal  evidence.  It 
took  place  in  all  of  the  European  countries  and  was  recorded 
and  commented  upon  in  Great  Britain  even  during  the  first 
year  of  the  war.  This  change  is  one  that  does  not  so  much 
show  itself  in  the  moving  of  women  from  one  occupation 
to  another  as  within  the  factory  or  plant  itself,  where  it 
results  in  taking  the  woman  away  from  the  mechanical 
monotonous  task  of  lifting  the  material  used  or  drilling  or 
feeding  the  machine  to  the  actual  handling  of  a delicate 
and  complicated  machine  itself;  the  milling  of  the  parts, 
the  setting  of  the  machine,  the  testing  of  the  temper  of 


WORKING  WOMEN  AND  THE  WAR 


201 


tools.  This  is  not  a difference  of  trade,  it  would  be  noted 
in  no  census  of  industry,  it  is  a change  and  an  elevation  in 
the  quality  of  the  work  itself;  it  is  a challenge  to  the 
woman  to  show  herself  worthy  of  responsibility ; an  admis- 
sion that  she  has  latent  within  her  powers  and  capacities 
that  have  never  before  been  called  into  action. 

Whatever  promotes  a woman  to  the  higher  branches  of 
industry  makes  room  for  those  below  her  to  step  up  also 
from  their  rung  in  the  industrial  ladder.  The  investigators 
for  the  Bureau  are  certain  that  some  at  least  of  the  occupa- 
tions and  some  of  the  positions  opened  to  women  by  war 
opportunities  will  continue  to  be  filled  by  women.  At  time 
of  writing,  the  industrial  situation  is  so  confused  and  im- 
perfectly mastered,  that  it  is  quite  impossible  to  say  just 
what  is  happening  in  the  meantime.  But  an  indirect  result 
was  seen  in  the  great  difficulty  the  traditional  women’s 
trades,  the  textile  and  garment  trades,  had  in  getting  back 
the  women  workers  after  the  armistice  was  declared.  The 
Textile  World  Journal  admitted  that  women  had  been  able 
to  do  such  good  work  in  new  occupations  that  they  were 
likely  to  remain  on  the  job  even  after  normal  conditions 
as  to  labor  supply  had  been  restored.  The  writer  con- 
sidered that  only  by  good  wages,  sanitation  and  welfare 
equipment,  could  the  probable  loss  of  female  labor  by  the 
textile  industries  be  overcome. 


Chaptek  XI 


THE  NEGRO  WOMAN 

Negro  women  were  not  unaffected  by  the  stepping-up 
process  that  during  the  war  had  such  results  upon  the  occu- 
pational status  of  the  white  woman.  They,  oftentimes, 
sharing  in  a family  migration,  left  the  Southern  states  to 
seek  for  the  jobs  they  heard  were  so  plentiful  in  the  North. 
Was  their  home  already  in  the  northern  industrial  cities, 
then  they  left  domestic  and  personal  services  to  seek  work 
better  paid  and  under  fewer  restrictions.  As  to  the  white 
woman,  so  to  her  colored  sister,  the  war  meant  opportunity ; 
it  meant  an  opened  door  into  the  world  of  industrial  service. 
At  the  same  time,  radical  adjustments  were  necessary.  The 
colored  workers  arrived  at  a northern  center,  quite  unac- 
customed to  the  climate,  unprepared  as  to  clothing,  as  to 
knowledge  of  the  difficult  housing  conditions,  and  imtrained 
in  industrial  processes. 

Among  the  great  mass  of  reports  issued  from  the  official 
presses  there  are  some  few  which  rank  high  as  human 
documents.  Such  an  one  is  “Negro  Women  in  Industry.” 
Not  only  is  it  full  of  information  on  a subject  on  which  we 
are  most  of  us  quite  ignorant,  and  as  indifferent  as  we  are 
ignorant,  but  it  is  in  itself  a landmark  in  the  slow  progress 
upward  of  the  Negro  race.* 

* Negro  Women  in  Industry  Women’s  Bureau.  Department  of 
Labor.  1920.  Refer  also  to  the  Negro  at  Work  During  the  World 
War  and  Reconstruction.  Sec.  19.  Division  of  Negro  Economics, 
United  States  Department  of  Labor. 

202 


THE  NEGRO  WOMAN 


203 


The  investigation  of  the  conditions  under  which  the 
colored  woman  worked  was  made  and  the  report  written 
by  Miss  Emma  L.  Shields  a member  of  the  staff  of  the 
Women’s  Bureau  in  the  Department  of  Labor  with  the 
co-operation  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics  and  of  the 
Division  of  Negro  Economics.  Miss  Shields  was  in  the 
field  from  September  to  December,  1920.  During  that 
time  she  visited  150  plants,  distributed  over  the  states  of 
New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio,  Illinois,  Michigan,  Indiana, 
Virginia,  West  Virginia  and  North  Carolina.  In  these 
plants  were  28,520  women  and  of  these  11,812  were  Negro 
women,  or  more  than  forty  per  cent  of  aU  the  women  em- 
ployed. 

Over  half  of  the  Negro  women  were  engaged  in  the 
tobacco  industry  in  the  rough  processes  of  which  they  have 
been  taking  part  for  many  years.  The  general  effect  of 
the  war  upon  the  occupation  of  Negro  women  has  been 
noted  elsewhere,  but  this  investigation  takes  us  a step 
further  and  shows  us  the  colored  woman  in  many  occupa- 
tions hitherto  closed  to  her,  and,  in  some  instances  at  least, 
still  holding  her  own.  To  express  this  moderately,  during 
the  brief  period  that  this  country  was  at  war,  she  gained 
both  an  industrial  experience  and  a knowledge  of  the  routine 
working  habits  of  factory  life,  that  have  had  a distinct 
effect  upon  her  whole  outlook.  She  has  acqmred  a certain 
confidence  in  herself  and  a “footing,  however  slippery, 
which  will  make  her  an  increasingly  important  factor  in 
American  industry  in  the  future.”  But  more  significant 
still,  thirteen  of  the  establishments  visited,  out  of  the  150, 
had  employed  Negro  women  for  the  first  time  after  the  war 
was  over.  These  employers  were  evidently  not  driven  to 
engage  them  through  urgent  shortage  of  labor. 

The  experiences  of  the  women  when  first  entering  the 
clothing  industry,  were  largely  those  of  the  newly  arrived 


204  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


immigrant  on  New  York’s  East  Side.  Many  had  some  idea 
of  sewing  but  little  of  what  is  called  the  factory  sense; 
the  need  for  punctuality,  for  keeping  their  work  going  so  as 
to  fit  it  in  with  other  processes,  and  generally  adapting 
themselves  to  the  rigid  methods  and  exacting  drills  of  a 
manufacturing  plant.  With  many  of  the  workers  their 
first  awkwardness  gradually  passed  away  and  about  one- 
fifth  of  them  were  found  to  be  working  on  the  more 
skilled  processes,  such  as  machine  operating.  In  one 
department  of  work,  and  evidence  from  many  other  quar- 
ters proves  this,  the  Negro  women  continually  surpassed 
their  white  sisters,  and  that  was  as  pressers.  No  explana- 
tion of  this  has  been  given.  Possibly  it  was  because  of 
actually  greater  muscular  strength  or  perhaps  because 
colored  women  have  been  for  so  long  commonly  employed 
in  hand  laundry  work,  with  all  the  hand  ironing  that  it 
involves. 

In  the  metal  industries,  almost  a new  industry  to  all, 
these  workers,  colored  and  white,  came  in  on  the  same  foot- 
ing. Most  of  the  women  were  employed  in  making  cores, 
sometimes  light  weight,  sometimes  heavy  cores  for  stove  and 
automobile  castings.  The  list  of  operations  in  all  of  which 
women  were  observed  to  be  occupied,  included  “drilling, 
polishing,  painting,  punch-press  operating,  moulding,  weld- 
ing, soldering,  and  filing  parts  of  automobiles,  stoves,  hard- 
ware and  enamel  products.” 

The  textile  industry  showed  conditions  typical  of  the 
colored  woman’s  situation.  Five  establishments  employing 
both  white  and  Negro  women,  allotted  the  Negroes  such 
work  as  scrubbing  floors  and  cleaning  lint  and  cotton  from 
machines.  They  had  no  hope  of  promotion  to  anything 
else,  as  the  skilled  operations  were  performed  by  white 
women.  Four  establishments  employed  only  Negro  women 


THE  NEGRO  WOMAN 


205 


but  they  were  working  on  all  processes,  including  the  work 
listed  elsewhere  as  skilled  work. 

The  last  of  the  ten  cotton  mills  visited  made  no  dis- 
tinction but  employed  women  of  both  races  upon  all  the 
operations. 

Three  managers  were  anxious  to  open  up  better  oppor- 
tunities for  the  colored  women.  One  of  them  told  of  his 
own  discouraging  experience  in  making  the  attempt.  He 
had  employed  Negro  girls  to  manufacture  cigars  in  a 
southern  town  on  an  occasion  when  he  found  himself  in  a 
diflBculty  for  help.  His  central  office  objected.  The 
Tobacco  Manufacturers’  Union  brought  pressure  to  bear 
and  he  was  compelled  to  abandon  the  innovation  and  dis- 
pense with  his  colored  assistants,  although  in  his  own 
words,  “they  made  the  prettiest,  most  perfect  cigars  you 
ever  saw.”  Similar  discrimination  existed  in  every  kind 
of  industry  that  was  looked  into.  Opportunity  of  employ- 
ment in  the  more  desirable  processes,  the  pleasanter,  cleaner, 
better  paid,  more  highly  skilled,  was  in  the  great  majority 
of  instances,  the  privilege  of  the  white  women.  Was  it  in 
the  stockyards?  The  Negro  women  had  to  work  usually 
on  wet  slippery  floors  where  the  air  was  unpleasantly 
odorous  and  where  there  were  marked  variations  in  tem- 
perature and  humidity.  In  the  peanut  industry?  There 
was  the  dragging  of  weighty  and  cumbersome  bags,  heavy 
and  straining  work,  when  it  would  have  been  quite  possible, 
with  very  simple  equipment,  to  lighten  the  task. 

In  department  stores  the  colored  girl  may  be  a stock  girl, 
an  elevator  operator  or  a waitress.  So  also  may  the  white 
girl.  But  a white  girl  in  any  of  these  positions  may  apply 
for  a job  as  salesgirl.  Of  such  promotion  the  colored  girl 
has  no  hope. 

The  question  of  wages  is  a complicated  matter  under  any 
circumstances,  and  the  just  principle  of  giving  equal  pay 


206  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


for  equal  work,  regardless  of  sex  or  color,  should  be  insisted 
on  and  never  lost  sight  of.  The  discrimination  in  wages 
from  which  the  white  woman  so  generally  suffers,  applies  in 
an  even  greater  degree  to  her  colored  sister.  It  was  often 
found  that  there  was  a great  diversity  in  the  pay  given  to 
women  in  different  establishments.  This  inequality  was 
even  more  marked  when  the  Negro  and  the  white  women 
workers  doing  identically  the  same  work  were  separated 
and  working  in  different  buildings.  Out  of  the  150  firms 
only  32  were  employing  Negro  and  white  women  without 
separation,  with  equal  opportunities  in  the  work  itself  and 
at  the  same  rate  of  pay.  As  one  Negro  woman  who  had 
not  the  good  fortune  to  be  employed  by  one  of  these  firms, 
said,  “You  never  know  what  you  are  going  to  get;  you  just 
take  what  they  give  you  and  go.” 

The  colored  woman  is  so  commonly  employed  in  the 
seasonal  trades  that  the  possibility  of  the  stoppage  of  earn- 
ings when  the  slack  season  comes  on,  is  with  her  always  a 
pressing  problem,  as  she  is  likely  to  be  “the  last  hired  and 
the  first  laid  off.”  “You  need  money  to  live  on  in  the 
summer  just  like  you  do  in  the  winter,”  was  the  unanswer- 
able argument  presented. 

Several  instances  of  marked  efficiency  are  given  that 
ought  to  make  us  pause  before  accepting  the  popular  view 
of  the  inferior  capacity  of  the  colored  race. 

\ In  one  large  steel  plant  where  the  white  and  Negro  girls 
had  started  a friendly  competition  in  making  cores  and 
filing  castings,  it  was  a Negro  girl  who  was  considered  by 
the  manager  as  the  best  worker  in  the  plant.  There  was 
her  pay  envelope  for  the  preceding  week,  with  $38  in  it, 
and  it  had  been  known  to  contain  $42. 

The  superintendent  in  a large  meat  packing  plant  em- 
ployed Negro  women  to  take  the  place  of  men  in  cutting 
hog  ears,  the  women  to  be  paid  men’s  wages  if  they  were 


THE  NEGRO  WOMAN 


207 


able  to  earn  them.  Of  the  result  he  says:  “They  are  paid 
men’s  wages  and  they  do  the  work  much  better  than  men 
did.  They  seem  to  be  inspired  because  no  difference  was 
made  in  their  wages  and  their  efficiency  and  regularity  on 
the  job  has  been  100  per  cent.” 

Besides  the  main  question  of  hours,  wages  and  oppor- 
tunity, there  is  the  large  question  of  the  general  adjustment 
of  the  colored  woman  to  the  new  demands  that  industry  for 
the  first  time  made  upon  her  during  the  war  and  to  the  new 
opportunities  which  it  also  gave  to  her.  These  related  ques- 
tions cover  employment  policies,  methods  of  supervision, 
education  and  training  of  workers.  In  hiring,  transferring 
and  discharging  employes  there  was  often  no  policy  at  all, 
or  the  policy  was  to  leave  it  entirely  to  the  foreman.  He 
himself  would  be  at  a loss  because  he  had  had  no  experience 
in  training  such  raw  workers  or  in  making  the  adjustments 
necessary  to  meet  an  unfamiliar  situation.  A grave  labor 
turnover,  with  all  the  accompanying  waste  of  time  and 
material,  would  be  the  usual  result. 

Methods  of  getting  around  the  race  difficulty  used  by 
different  employers  were  found  to  be  diametrically  opposite. 
In  order  to  conciliate  white  workers  and  meet  their  possible 
objections  to  associating  with  the  colored  women,  some 
managements  placed  the  latter  in  separate  buildings  or 
workrooms,  in  some  instances  even  when  all  were  doing  the 
same  work.  Some  of  the  reasons  given  were:  “Lack  of 
space,  and  mixed  groups  wouldn’t  get  along,”  and  “white 
girls  resent  proximity  to  colored  girls.” 

On  the  other  hand  there  were  managers  who  might 
almost  be  living  in  another  country  and  another  age:  “I 
have  no  separation  because  it  is  the  policy  of  the  manage- 
ment to  promote  better  racial  understanding,  and  that  can 
only  come  through  contact”;  and  “I  have  no  separation 
because  where  oolored  and  white  girls  are  mixed  there  is 


208  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


not  so  much  time  wasted  in  visiting.  The  white  girls 
socialized  all  the  time  until  I mixed  the  groups,  and  now 
they  work  and  get  along  beautifully.”  A practical  objec- 
tion to  a separation  system  is  that  having  to  provide 
separate  accommodations  and  practically  a separate  plant 
for  two  groups  burdens  the  business  with  needless  expense. 

A very  important  point,  and  one  upon  which  all  evidence 
is  agreed,  is  the  desirability  of  employing  Negro  forewomen 
and  supervisors  wherever  there  are  units  of  Negro  women 
workers.  Closely  connected  with  satisfactory  and  har- 
monious supervision  is  the  need  of  training  within  the 
factory.  The  best  one  to  do  the  training  is  a colored  woman 
supervisor,  patient,  intelligent  and  willing  to  hearten  and 
encourage  the  untrained.  Some  houses  are  recognizing  this, 
introducing  welfare  workers  and  inviting  representatives  of 
community  agencies  to  give  educational  talks  on  industrial 
standards,  training  courses  in  home  nursing  and  first  aid 
and  adding  recreational  activities. 

Something  of  the  patience  and  hopefulness  of  their  race 
was  observed  in  many  of  the  women,  and  trust  and  belief 
in  the  coming  of  a new  day  was  frequent.  Even  in  very 
unpleasant  surroundings  they  could  be  heard  singing  and 
chanting  their  own  songs.  A foreman,  new  to  his  work, 
who  tried  to  stop  what  was  to  him  a most  unconventional 
outlet  of  energy,  was  told  by  his  more  experienced  employer 
that  the  women  worked  better  when  they  sang.  From  other 
observers  at  work  in  the  field  of  industry  for  the  last  few 
years,  come  similar  stories. 

Chicago,  the  second  city  industrially,  as  well  as  in  popu- 
lation, and  which  has  now  the  third  largest  Negro  popula- 
tion in  the  country,  has  been  the  one  that  has  offered  the 
colored  working  woman  the  least  opportunity  to  advance. 
Though  colored  girls  may  learn  shorthand,  typing  and  book- 


THE  NEGRO  WOMAN 


209 


keeping  in  the  public  schools,  most  of  them  are  driven  to 
take  employment  as  domestics  or  janitresses. 

While  no  extensive  or  thorough  survey  has  been  made 
of  Detroit  it  is  certain  that  a great  advance  was  made  in 
that  city  in  the  enlargement  of  opportunity  for  colored 
women  workers.  The  Banner  Garment  Company  has  for 
over  five  years  been  running  a factory  entirely  staffed  with 
colored  women,  from  machine  operators  to  clerical  em- 
ployes. During  the  war  they  were  used  to  work  drill 
presses  in  a steel  mill.  In  the  automobile  plants  they  were 
found  as  assemblers  and  inspectors,  as  plate  makers  in 
dental  laboratories,  as  armature  winders  in  insulated  wire 
factories,  in  most  of  these  occupations  at  the  same  rate  of 
pay  as  the  white  girl.  In  Detroit  also  the  observation  was 
made  that  under  forewomen  of  their  own  race,  colored 
women  achieved  better  results  and  a higher  rate  of  pro- 
duction. 

There  are  instances  on  record,  as  in  cartridge  factories  in 
Newark,  New  Jersey,  and  a bag  factory  in  Decatur,  Illinois, 
where  the  colored  women  turned  out  more  cartridges  and 
sewed  more  bags  for  the  Government  than  did  the  white 
girls.  While  no  one  would  suggest  tests  of  comparison 
would  have  resulted  thus,  such  instances  as  these  go  a long 
way  in  refuting  the  familiar  charges  of  general  inefficiency 
set  down  against  the  Negro  girl. 

As  regards  her  permanent  industrial  status,  the  colored 
woman  can  rise  only  in  the  degree  her  race  rises.  Unless 
justice  be  done  to  the  colored  man  and  woman  alike,  they 
will  both  help  to  drag  down  the  standards  of  the  white 
workers  to  the  level  of  their  own,  and  may  live  to  be 
registered  as  strike  breakers  in  many  a future  struggle. 

The  general  situation  has  never  been  more  tersely  put 
than  by  Mary  E.  McDowell  in  the  World  Tomorrow  for 
March,  1922. 


210  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


What  shall  be  the  program  for  those  who  beUeve  in  democracy 
in  industry  as  well  as  in  politics,  and  wish  a peaceable  adjustment 
in  this  struggle  for  a higher  standard  of  living?  First,  the  leader 
of  whites,  as  well  as  of  blacks,  must  imderstand  the  industrial 
struggle  and  the  place  the  colored  workers  hold  in  it.  The  reso- 
lutions passed  by  the  Pan  African  Congress  in  Belgium  last  sum- 
mer recognized  this  fact. 

The  American  Federation  of  Labor  in  1919  formally  decided 
to  open  the  doors  of  organized  labor  unconditionally  to  Negroes, 
In  1921  the  Chicago  Federation  of  Labor  voted,  not  only  to  assist 
but  to  give  a moral  and  financial  aid  to  the  organizing  of  the 
colored  hotel  and  restaurant  employes.  The  United  Mine 
Workers  of  America  take  colored  men  into  the  union  without  dis- 
crimination. In  one  West  Virginia  organization,  where  there  are 
seventy  white  men  and  ten  Negroes,  the  president  is  of  the 
colored  group.  In  Alabama  I myself  witnessed  the  loyal  stand 
of  the  colored  miners  with  the  white  in  a tent  colony  of  brave 
men  and  women  protesting  against  bad  conditions,  while  the 
press  called  the  organizer  of  the  United  Mine  Workers  all  the 
Civil  War  epithets  it  could  remember.  During  the  late  war  the 
local  Foimdrymen’s  Union  took  in  their  feUow  colored  workers. 

There  are  many  indications  that  the  rank  and  file  are  seeing 
clearly  that  there  must  be  no  discrimination  between  black  and 
white  workers,  for  those  discriminated  against  will  always  be  the 
exploited  group,  and  their  struggle  with  the  “Iron  Man”  is  a 
common  cause  that  needs  support. 

The  colored  wage  earner  must  be  awakened  to  see  that  indi- 
vidually he  is  helpless  to  change  his  industrial  conditions;  he 
must  be  made  to  see  himself  as  a part  of  the  whole  struggle;  he 
must  be  organized  and  cease  being  cheap  or  exploited  labor. 
Organized  labor  must  be  made  to  see  its  short-sightedness  in  deal- 
ing with  colored  competitors.  If  the  International  Unions  do  not 
do  their  duty,  then  let  the  colored  people  organize  themselves 
and  bring  pressure  on  the  American  Federation  of  Labor,  as  I 
understand  is  being  done  by  the  colored  cooks  and  porters  on 
railroads.  The  labor  struggle  must  be  lifted  to  a higher  plane, 
for  it  is  too  much  physical  and  too  httle  spiritual.  An  inteUigent 


THE  NEGRO  WOMAN 


211 


public  opinion  must  be  created  through  the  education  of  the 
teachers  and  social  workers,  the  colleges  and  the  ministry.  The 
leaders  must  be  led  to  see  the  significance  to  the  colored  group 
of  workers,  both  men  and  women,  of  the  struggle  of  labor  for  a 
higher  standard  of  hving. 

Inter-racial  committees  in  the  South  and  North  have  a special 
duty  to  perform  to  protect  society  from  this  inter-racial  clashing 
in  industry.  Leaders  must  know  the  “Iron  Man”  and  protect  the 
weak  from  his  power. 

“Pubhc  opinion  is  the  greatest  of  all  the  powers”;  therefore, 
create  public  opinion  and  organize  the  colored  workers. 


Chapter  XII 


INTERNATIONAL  FEDERATION  OF  WORKING 
WOMEN 

The  National  Women’s  Trade  Union  League  of  America 
took  the  initial  steps  toward  an  international  meeting  of 
working  women  at  its  convention  in  Kansas  City  in  1917, 
when  the  delegates  appealed  to  the  organized  working 
women  of  all  countries  to  co-operate  in  calling  an  inter- 
national congress  of  working  women  to  be  held  at  the  same 
time  as  the  first  International  Labor  Conference.  At  the 
same  gathering  the  question  of  uniform  international  labor 
standards  came  up. 

The  only  basis  upon  which  international  commercial 
competition  can  be  conducted  fairly  and  without  injustice 
to  the  workers  is  by  the  setting  up  of  common  standards  of 
hours  and  payment.  The  White  Goods  Workers  of  Paris 
(Syndicat  General  de  la  Chemiserie,  Lingerie,  etc.)  pre- 
sented through  Madame  Gabrielle  Duchene  a plan  which 
the  convention  unanimously  endorsed,  asking  for  the  in- 
sertion into  the  treaty  of  peace  to  be  signed  at  the  close  of 
the  war,  of  labor  clauses,  to  apply  to  every  country  which 
is  a party  to  the  treaty,  and  to  take  effect  within  a definite 
time.  These  labor  clauses  to  prescribe  “standards  covering 
conditions  of  work,  the  hours  of  w'ork  and  the  wages  paid, 
so  that  the  workers  may  be  insured  such  elementary'  rights 
as  the  eight-hoiu  day,  one  day  rest  in  seven,  no  child  labor, 

212 


FEDERATION  OF  WORKING  WOMEN 


213 


the  abolition  of  night  work  for  women,  a living  wage  in 
proportion  to  the  cost  of  living  in  each  country,  and  equal 
pay  for  equal  work.” 

Yet  further  developments  of  the  same  idea  were:— the 
insistence  by  the  signatory  governments  of  equally  high 
standards  in  all  government  contracts ; the  creation  of  labor 
bureaus  in  every  country  and  of  one  international  bureau, 
to  be  a clearing  house  for  all  information  on  labor  questions, 
and  maintaining  the  standards  which  the  various  countries 
should  have  bound  themselves  to  observe. 

As  soon  as  the  Armistice  was  signed  the  League’s  Com- 
mittee on  Social  and  Industrial  Reconstruction  met  in  New 
York  and  urged  the  early  calling  together  of  an  Inter- 
national Congress  of  Working  Women  for  the  exchange  of 
thought  and  the  concerted  action  required  by  the  task 
before  all  women,  and  drew  up  proposed  international 
standards. 

In  order  to  come  into  close  touch  with  the  European 
situation,  and  to  put  the  working  women’s  view  before  the 
International  Labor  Conference  of  the  League  of  Nations, 
the  National  Women’s  Trade  Union  League,  early  in  1919, 
sent  Miss  Mary  Anderson  and  Miss  Rose  Schneiderman 
to  Paris.  While  passing  through  London,  they  conferred 
with  Miss  Margaret  Bondfield,  Assistant  Secretary  of  the 
Federation  of  Women  Workers.  In  Paris,  it  was  their  in- 
tention to  present  to  the  Labor  Commission,  organizing  the 
conference,  the  standards  drawn  up  by  the  League’s  Com- 
mittee on  Social  and  Industrial  Reconstruction,  and  also 
two  amendments  prepared  by  the  British  labor  women, 
urging  women  advisers  in  the  Labor  Conference,  and  also 
that  there  should  be  women  officials  in  the  International 
Labor  Office.  Unfortunately,  owing  to  the  many  delays  in 
the  journey,  and  complications  as  to  the  <viseing  of  pass- 
ports by  at  least  three  separate  consulates,  the  two  dele- 


214  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


gates  did  not  reach  their  destination  until  the  day  after 
the  Labor  Commission  had  disbanded,  and  any  action  they 
could  take  was  then  purely  informal.  Their  visit,  however, 
was  the  means  of  accomplishing  a great  deal.  Their  very 
presence  did  much  to  rouse  keen  interest  in  a possible  work- 
ing women’s  international  meeting,  not  as  something  in  the 
far  future,  but  within  the  next  few  months,  and  with  all  the 
prestige  of  being  held  in  connection  with  the  first  meeting 
of  the  International  Labor  Conference.  The  labor  ofiicials 
moreover  could  not  fail  to  realize  that  after  all,  there  was 
a woman’s  point  of  view. 

At  the  following  convention  of  the  National  Women’s 
Trade  Union  League  in  Philadelphia  in  June,  1919,  plans 
were  completed  and  delegates  elected.  Shortly  after  steps 
were  taken  to  invite  the  delegates  from  other  nations  to 
meet  with  the  league’s  delegates  in  Washington,  and  to 
meet  ahead  of  the  ofiicial  Labor  Conference  of  the  League 
of  Nations,  in  order  to  place  before  that  body  the  well  con- 
sidered recommendations  of  the  working  women  of  the 
world.  All  delegates  were  asked  to  produce  credentials 
signed  by  the  trade  union  organizations  of  their  respective 
countries.  They  were  also  asked  to  prepare  material  on 
child  labor,  on  women’s  employment,  the  eight-hour  day, 
unemployment  and  the  care  of  maternity.  Delegates  at- 
tended representing  twelve  nations,  Argentina,  Belgium, 
the  British  Empire,  Canada,  Czecho-Slovakia,  France, 
India,  Italy,  Norway,  Poland,  Sweden  and  the  United 
States. 

Several  of  the  foreign  delegates  also  held  the  position  of 
technical  adviser  to  the  delegations  of  their  respective  coun- 
tries in  the  International  Labor  Conference  at  Washington. 
There  were  besides  other  women  technical  advisers,  who 
although  not  delegates  to  the  Working  Women’s  Congress 
attended  many  of  its  sessions  and  took  part  in  the  discus- 


FEDERATION  OF  WORKING  WOMEN  215 


sions.  Still  others  came  as  visitors.  Among  this  imofficial 
group  were  women  from  Cuba,  Denmark,  Italy,  Japan,  the 
Netherlands,  Poland,  Serbia,  Spain,  Sweden  and  Switzer- 
land. 

The  two  youngest  republics  represented,  Czecho-Slovakia 
and  Poland,  sent  delegates  who  were  representatives  of  their, 
coimtry  not  only  as  workers,  but  in  its  public  life.  There 
was  Madame  Stychova,  a member  of  the  National  Assembly 
of  Czecho-Slovakia,  and  Madame  Majerova  of  the  City 
Council  of  Prague,  while  Mile.  Konopska,  one  of  the  Polish 
delegates,  an  embroidery  worker,  had  been  candidate  for 
the  Polish  Parliament  on  a labor  ticket  at  a recent  election. 

During  the  week  of  October  28  to  November  6,  1919,  the 
delegates  discussed  industrial  standards  considered  inter- 
nationally. They  drew  up  a set  of  international  reso- 
lutions, expressing  their  demands  upon  those  subjects,  and 
presented  these  demands  to  the  men  of  thirty-four  nations 
who  were  holding  the  official  International  Labor  Confer- 
ence of  the  League  of  Nations  just  a few  blocks  away. 

There  were  no  women  delegates  attending  that  conference, 
which  supplied  an  additional  reason  why  an  International 
Congress  of  Working  Women  had  to  be  held.  It  is 
satisfactory  to  know  that  the  women’s  resolutions  won  at 
least  a respectful  hearing  at  the  official  conference. 

“At  a very  early  stage  of  the  proceedings  the  Congress 
took  the  opportunity  of  passing  on  to  the  Labor  Conference 
the  desire  of  women  everywhere  that  they  should  have 
direct  representation  at  the  next  Labor  Conference;  and 
that  every  country  should  be  represented  by  at  least  one 
woman  delegate.  To  be  a technical  adviser  is  all  very 
well,  but  the  power  of  the  woman  technical  adviser  is 
entirely  dependent  upon  the  good  will  of  the  man  delegate 
whom  she  is  appointed  to  assist.  If  he  chooses  she  may 
have  the  floor,  and  exercise  his  vote  upon  any  question  in- 


216  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


volving  women,  and  if  he  does  not  so  choose,  she  must  sit 
in  unworthy  suppression  and  silence,  while  the  industrial 
rights  of  her  sister  women  may  be  voted  away.” 

The  subjects  covered  the  eight-hour  day  with  the  fifty- 
four-hour  week  (for  all  workers),  child  labor,  maternity 
insurance,  night  work,  unemployment,  hazardous  occupa- 
tions, immigration  and  the  distribution  of  raw  materials. 
The  Congress  also  provided  for  its  own  continuous  existence 
through  a provisional  committee  consisting  of  the  Presi- 
dent, vice-presidents  and  secretary  and  treasurer,  with 
correspondents  in  the  various  nations  and  with  an  inter- 
national ofi&ce  in  the  United  States. 

The  lines  along  which  differences  between  the  delegates 
presented  themselves  could  have  been  foreseen  by  no  one. 
To  the  suggestion  of  maternity  insurance  in  principle,  every 
delegate  was  ready  with  an  eager  assent.  But  it  presently 
developed  that  the  vote  would  turn  largely  upon  details. 
In  every  case,  when  the  point  was  driven  home,  it  was 
shown  that  the  decision  of  each  delegate  upon  the  form  it 
should  take,  depended  very  largely  on  the  needs  of  her  own 
country.  On  the  point  of  having  the  very  best  medical  and 
surgical  and  nursing  care  during  childbirth,  and  having  it 
free,  there  was  encouraging  unanimity ; but  the  women  from 
the  poorer  countries  hesitated  long  before  they  would  agree 
to  a cash  benefit  as  well.  “Our  countries  are  so  poor;  how 
can  they  pay  it?”  was  the  pitiful  plaint.  The  larger  view 
that  prevailed  among  women  coming  from  the  less  op- 
pressed lands  was  that  such  benefit  and  such  care  should 
be  for  all  mothers,  this  being  the  only  way  in  which  the 
stigma  of  charity  could  be  removed,  the  ability  on  the  part 
of  a few  to  pay  for  it  being  regarded  as  merely  an  irrevelant 
and  altogether  insignificant  feature.  Again  came  the  pro- 
test “Our  country  cannot  pay  for  a single  woman  who  has 
the  means  to  provide  for  herself.”  It  was  then  proposed  to 


FEDERATION  OF  WORKING  WOMEN  217 


make  the  matter  part  of  a general  health  insurance  scheme. 
But  no,  “Unless  my  country  does  it  through  the  state  as  a 
separate  affair,  it  will  not  be  done  at  all.”  So  that  too  was 
left  to  the  individual  nations  to  determine. 

It  was  an  astonishing  program  that  was  presented  by  the 
Polish  delegates,  not  at  all  what  would  have  been  expected 
from  such  simple  women.  It  was  nothing  less  than  a world 
table,  a world  market,  world  industry.  They  asked  for 
equal  distribution  of  the  “raw  materials  existing  in  the 
world,  as  well  as  the  international  control  of  maritime 
transports  which  determine  the  increase  of  price  of  the  raw 
material.”  Truly  an  end  to  blockades;  an  end  to  hogging 
of  sugar,  to  profiteering  in  meat  or  in  cotton,  an  end  to 
hoarding  for  a better  price;  the  little  poor  country  to  have 
a fair  chance  along  with  the  great  and  rich  commercial 
empires.  The  same  with  labor  and  labor’s  opportunities. 
Few  of  the  poor  cross  the  seas  for  adventure;  they  make 
the  journey  to  get  work,  and  so  are  made  the  means  of  the 
exploitation  of  others,  who  have  to  make  room  in  the  labor 
market  for  those  poorer  and  less  well-equipped  than  them- 
selves, save  in  the  dangerous  ability  to  live  on  little.  Away 
with  all  this,  said  the  Poles.  Let  immigration  and  unem- 
ployment be  regulated  internationally,  labor  departments 
and  trade  unions  having  a say  in  how  both  workers  and 
work  had  best  be  allotted  to  the  various  regions  and 
countries. 

At  this  Congress,  the  first  world  gathering  of  working 
women  ever  held,  the  idea  was  in  the  air  that  it  was  not 
only  an  international  gathering,  but  it  was  also  a meeting 
of  internationalists.  Strange  to  say  it  was  hardly  that. 
Such  can  scarcely  be  said  yet  of  any  gathering,  drawn  from 
any  group,  labor,  socialist,  or  any  other.  Our  present  ex- 
periences are  only  an  illustration  of  the  well-proved  axiom 
“We  learn  by  doing.”  Very  few,  either  delegates  or  onlook- 


218  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


ers,  had  yet  reached  the  international  viewpoint,  though 
all  sincerely  intended  to  think  and  to  speak  and  to  vote  as 
world  citizens.  The  nearest  approach  to  this  was  a con- 
scientious and  unflinching  determination  to  be  fair  and 
tolerant.  It  is  to  the  credit  of  all  that  fairness  and  tolerance 
were  habitually  shown  through  the  most  trying  and  testing 
discussions.  But  the  fact  remains  that  this  constant  re- 
pression in  themselves,  by  delegates,  of  their  own  naturally 
aggressive  patriotism  is  a negative  virtue  only  and  still  a 
long  way  from  the  internationalism  at  which  they  are 
aiming. 

As  the  only  way  to  learn  is  by  doing,  so  the  only  way  to 
become  internationalists  is  to  internationalize,  to  meet,  to 
confer,  and  to  meet  again,  to  thrash  out  difiiculties,  to  be- 
come acquainted  with  each  other’s  national  peculiarities  and 
national  needs. 

The  international  viewpoint  is  nevertheless  essential  in 
these  tentative  beginnings  toward  mutual  understanding. 
Internationalism  is  the  result  of  meeting  and  conferring, 
and  the  consciousness  of  international  imity  is  by  no  means 
necessary  to  its  gradual  growth.  Internationalism  itself  is 
the  outgrowth  of  the  conflict  of  ideas,  of  meeting  and 
making  a workable  compromise.  The  creation  of  the  thing 
itself  in  this  slow  fashion  is  a greater  achievement  than  any 
of  the  definite  results  or  than  any  of  the  compromises  by 
which  it  is  attained. 

This  has  evidently  been  the  experience  of  others  besides 
working  women.  Every  group  which  has  met  during  the 
last  five  years  seems  to  have  appreciated  this,  in  one  degree 
or  another,  and  the  fact  was  openly  accepted  by  many  of 
the  delegates  to  the  conference  on  the  Limitation  of  Arma- 
ments. 

As  the  Polish  delegates  spoke  that  fall  day,  the  listener 
might  feel  in  fancy  a fresher  air,  a clearer  atmosphere.  Yet 


FEDER  ^lON  OF  WORKING  WOMEN  219 

it  was  their  own  awful  necessity,  the  crying  need  for  raw 
materials,  the  kumvledge  that  some  of  them  might  have  to 
fare  forth  to  seei^  work  in  richer  countries,  that  had  sharp- 
ened their  wits  in  thinking  out  these  plans  to  restore  the 
home  and  family  life  in  Poland.  The  plan,  conceived  on  a 
scale  of  international  significance  originated  in  the  hope- 
less situation  of  a starving  and  exhausted  country  that 
must  have  the  raw  materials  of  existence  and  of  industry, 
or  perish.  B it  even  so  they  were  far  ahead  of  the  old 
nationalism.  A few  years  ago,  in  similar  straits,  the  Poles 
would  have  asked  for  some  favored  nation  clause  or  through 
some  other  scheme,  have  tried  to  secure  an  opening  into  the 
field  of  commercial  and  industrial  prosperity.  Now,  given 
the  opportunity  to  think  internationally  they  laid  out  their 
plan  on  international  lines,  and  they  proposed  to  plan  for 
the  whole  world  on  the  lines  that  they  knew  to  be  for  their 
own  country’s  good.* 

The  next  two  years  were  busy  ones  for  the  Bureau  of  the 
International  Working  Women’s  Congress — its  headquar- 
ters were  in  Washington.  Mrs.  Raymond  Robins  as  presi- 
dent, Mrs.  Maud  Swartz  as  secretary,  and  Miss  Miriam 
Shepherd  as  executive  secretary,  gradually  built  up  con- 
nections with  the  working  women’s  groups  in  all  the  civi- 
lized coimtries,  and  in  some  just  on  the  borderland  of  that 
uncertain  standard  that  we  call  civilization.  The  various 
correspondents  pooled  their  ideas  in  the  central  office,  and 
out  of  it  all  grew  gradually  a draft  constitution  and  plans 
for  effective  co-operation  with  the  next  International  Labor 
Conference  to  be  held  in  Geneva.  So  that  it  was  with  a 
well  prepared  program  before  them  that  the  delegates 
assembled  in  Geneva  on  October  17,  1921. 

* A report  of  the  First  International  Congress  of  Working  Women, 
by  Miss  Vera  Schaefer  and  the  writer,  in  Lije  and  Labor  for  Decem- 
ber, 1919,  has  been  freely  drawn  upon. 


220  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


The  Washington  Conference  had  been  a preliminary 
gathering,  an  open  meeting.  The  Geneva  Congress  was 
from  beginning  to  end  a series  of  business  sessions  in  which 
very  genuine  results  were  achieved;  much  of  this  was  ac- 
complished during  the  long  hours  spent  by  the  commissions 
(or  committees)  in  working  out  a basis  for  the  organization 
and  in  formulating  resolutions  which  were  practical  and 
ignored  none  of  the  difficulties  ahead.  Geneva  was  more 
real  than  Washington  and  in  every  way  further  ahead  be- 
cause the  women  were  actually  taking  hold,  preparing  to 
stand  by  one  another  and  to  carry  out  the  plans  decided 
upon.  They  were  facing  steadily  their  many  obligations, 
to  their  own  country,  to  the  trade  union  movement  and  to 
the  women  of  the  world.  It  was  a difiicult  hour  in  Europe, 
and  it  was  remarkable  that  a group  with  such  a varied 
background  could  unite  on  a program.  Yet  there  was  closer 
understanding  and  co-operation  between  the  women  of  dif- 
ferent nationalities.  The  Congress  itself,  instead  of  being 
on  a provisional  footing  was  placed  on  a solid  basis.  The 
name  of  the  Congress  was  changed  from  International  Con- 
gress to  International  Federation  of  Working  Women  and 
a plan  was  arranged  for  a system  of  dues  to  meet  the  ex- 
penses of  running  the  Bureau  and  holding  the  next  confer- 
ence. Although  only  twelve  nations  are  in  actual  afl&liation, 
thirty  nations  were  represented  in  Geneva.  The  delegates 
were: 

*Belgium Helene  Bumiaux,  Syndical  du  Parti  Ouvrier  et 

teacher.  des  SjTidicats  Independents 

* These  four  delegates  from  the  Christian  Unions  of  Belgium 
found  it  impossible  to  accept  the  Constitution  adopted  by  the  Inter- 
national Congress  of  Working  Women  because  of  the  affliation  with 
the  International  Federation  of  Trade  Unions  at  Amsterdam,  and 
they  withdrew  from  the  Congress.  They  have  their  own  federation 
of  Christian  Unions. 


FEDERATION  OF  WORKING  WOMEN  221 


Victorie  Cappe Commission  Inter-Syndic al 

Feminine  Chretienne  de  Bel- 
gique. 

Julie  de  Lauw Commission  Inter-Syndical 

Feminine  Chretienne  de  Bel- 
gique. 

Berthe  de  Lalieux. . . .Commission  Inter-Syndical 
Feminine  Chretienne  de  Bel- 
gique. 


Cuba Laura  de  Zayas  Bazan  Syndicate  de  Fogoneros, 

Marinos  y Similares. 

Czecho-Slovalda.Bozena  Kubickova. . . .Ceskoslovenske  Obec  Delnicke. 

J.  Linhartova Sekretariat  zen  Ceskoslav 

Socialne  Demokratioke  Strany 
Delnicke. 

France Eugenie  Berruelle,  F6d6ration  des  Travailleurs  de 

garment  worker.  THabillement  de  France,  et 

des  Colonies. 

Georgette  BouiUot,  Conf4d^ration  Generale  du 
embroiderer.  Travail. 

Jeanne  Bouvier Confederation  Generale  du 

Travail. 

Jeanne  Chevenard,  Confederation  Generale  du 
textile  worker.  Travail. 

Henriette  Coulmy  Federation  des  Travailleurs  de 
garment  worker.  rHabillement  de  France,  et 

des  Colonies. 

Suzanna  Gibault,  Federation  Nationale  des  Syn- 
office  worker.  dicats  d’Employes. 

Great  Britfun..  .Mrs.  Harrison  Bell.. . .Standing  Joint  Committee  of 

Women’s  Industrial  Organiza- 
tions. 

Margaret  Bondfield. . .Standing  Joint  Committee  of 
Women’s  Industrial  Organiza- 
tions. 

Edith  H.  House,  tele-  Standing  Joint  Committee  of 
phone  operator.  Women’s  Industrial  Organiza- 

tions. 

Thirza  Livesley,  tex-  Standing  Joint  Committee  of 
tile  worker.  Women’s  Industrial  Organiza- 

tions. 


222  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


Kate  Manicom,  Standing  Joint  Conunittee  of 
Workers’  union.  Women’s  Industrial  Organiza- 

tions. 

Edith  McDonald,  Standing  Joint  Committee  of 
clerk.  Women’s  Industrial  Organiza- 

tions. 

Marion  Phillips Standing  Joint  Committee  of 

Women’s  Industrial  Organiza- 
tions. 

Mrs.  Bell  Richards . . . Standing  Joint  Committee  of 
Women’s  Industrial  Organiza- 
tions. 

Madeleine  Symons Standing  Joint  Committee  of 

Women’s  Industrial  Organiza- 
tions. 


Italy Laura  Casartelli  Federazione  Itahana  fra  Operai 

Cabrini.  Tessili  and  other  organizations. 

Norway Ingeborg  Drolsum . . . . Kristiana  Kvindehge  Handels- 


bunds  Forening. 

Laura Delphin Holm,  Kristiana  Kvindehge  Handels- 
OfiBce  Workers’  bunds  Forening. 

Union. 

Louise  Kleve,  agri-  Barums  Smaahrukerlag,  Kris- 
cultural  worker.  tiana. 

Betzy  Kjelsberg Kvindelige  Telegraffunktion- 

arers  Landsforbudd,  Kristiana. 


Poland Sophie  Dobrzanska. . .Comite  Central  Polonais  pour 

les  Affaires  du  Congres. 

South  Africa ...  Mrs.  Mary  Fitzgerald . South  African  Industrial  Fed- 
eration. 

Switzerland. . . .Angele  Monnier,  L’Union  Syndicale  Suisse. 


watchmaker. 

United  States..  .Sarah  Green National  Women’s  Trade  Union 

League  of  America. 

Mrs.  Raymond  Robins.National  Women’s  Trade  Union 
League  of  America. 

Emma  Steghagen National  Women’s  Trade  Union 

League  of  America. 

Maud  Swartz National  Women’s  Trade  Union 

League  of  America. 


FEDERATION  OF  WORKING  WOMEN  223 


Among  visitors,  Mrs.  Weaver  and  Miss  Sophie  Sanger 
represented  the  International  Labor  Office;  Fraulein  Ger- 
trud Baer,  the  Women’s  International  League  for  Peace 
and  Freedom;  Miss  Mary  Dingman,  the  World’s  Young 
Women’s  Christian  Association;  Mme.  Chaponniere-Chaix, 
the  International  Council  of  Women;  Mme.  Antoinette 
Girardet-Veille,  the  International  Woman  Suffrage  Alli- 
ance. From  Roumania  came  Mme.  Ramneceanu,  Union 
Mondiale  de  la  Femme;  from  China,  Miss  We  Tsung  Zung, 
a Y.  W.  C.  A.  worker,  and  from  Japan,  Mrs.  Moto  Mat- 
sumato  and  Miss  Toshi  Nagasawa  of  the  Nippon  Women’s 
University  of  Tokio. 

In  discussing  the  new  constitution,  it  was  not  hard  to 
agree  upon  the  object  to  “unite  organized  women  in  order 
that  they  may  resolve  upon  the  means  by  which  the  stand- 
ard of  the  life  of  the  workers  throughout  the  world  may 
best  be  raised.”  There  was  also  unanimity  as  to  the  three 
principal  methods  of  carrying  out  that  object. 

a.  To  promote  trade  union  organization  among  women. 

b.  To  develop  an  international  policy  giving  special  considera- 
tion to  the  needs  of  women  and  children,  and  examine 
closely  all  projects  for  legislation  proposed  by  the  League 
of  Nations,  and  especially  by  the  International  Labor  Con- 
ferences. 

c.  To  promote  the  appointment  of  women  to  represent  organ- 
ized working  women  on  all  organizations  and  committees 
dealing  with  questions  affecting  the  welfare  of  the  workers. 

A program  surely  eminently  practical,  sane  and  con- 
servative. 

Profound  differences  of  opinion,  however,  presently  de- 
veloped upon  the  basis  of  membership,  and  the  definition 
of  membership  finally  decided  upon  must  be  considered 
quite  a triumph  of  tolerance  as  well  as  diplomacy,  meeting. 


224  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


as  it  does,  almost  contrary  situations  in  different  countries 
and  fitting  itself  so  as  to  harmonize  with  the  internal  pol- 
icies of  the  labor  movement  in  the  several  countries. 

The  Federation  shall  consist  of  National  Trade  Union  organiza- 
tions, containing  women  members,  and  affiliated  to  the  Inter- 
national Federation  of  Trade  Unions;  it  shall  also  admit  working 
women’s  organizations  accepting  its  aims  and  agreeing  to  work 
in  the  spirit  and  to  follow  the  principles  of  the  International 
Federation  of  Trade  Unions. 

This  phrasing  satisfied  the  British  delegates,  who  felt 
that  they  could  join  no  organization  which  would  exclude 
any  branch  of  their  tri-party  labor  movement  with  its 
trade  union,  its  political,  and  its  co-operative  wings.  It 
could  be  accepted  by  the  most  conservative  French  dele- 
gates, because  it  admitted  the  leadership  in  western  Europe 
today  of  the  (Amsterdam)  International  Federation  of 
Trade  Unions,  and  can  be  presented  for  acceptance  to  the 
German  labor  women,  as  they,  too,  accept  the  leadership 
of  Amsterdam.  The  American  delegation  was  the  most 
flexible  among  the  representatives  of  the  larger  countries 
and  to  it  this  definition  of  membership  proved  entirely  sat- 
isfactory. Any  controversy  which  may  arise  between  con- 
ferences as  to  eligibility  will  be  decided  by  the  Executive 
Board,  who  shall  submit  the  decision  to  the  next  congress. 

The  number  of  delegates  allowed  to  each  nation  is  one 
thing;  its  voting  strength  another.  Each  national  organiza- 
tion is  entitled  to  send  five  delegates  for  the  first  fifty  thou- 
sand women  or  less,  and  one  additional  delegate  for  each 
additional  fifty  thousand  or  part  thereof.  In  voting,  on  the 
other  hand,  there  is  to  be  one  vote  for  each  national  organ- 
ization of  fifty  thousand  or  less.  All  organizations  above 
fifty  thousand  are  allowed  two  votes,  and  no  more  than 
two,  whatever  their  numbers. 


FEDERATION  OF  WORKING  WOMEN  225 


The  main  program  of  the  congress  was  the  agenda  of  the 
International  Labor  Conference,  sitting  in  Geneva,  includ- 
ing prevention  of  anthrax,  raising  standards  of  agricultural 
workers  and  the  international  causes  of  unemployment. 

How  essential  are  such  international  labor  conferences 
was  strikingly  illustrated  in  the  discussion  on  the  preven- 
tion of  anthrax.  To  most  Americans  the  disease  means 
little,  and  yet  the  disease  so  entitled  is  one  whose  spread 
cannot  be  checked,  save  through  international  action.  It  is 
primarily  a disease  of  certain  animals,  in  particular  of  the 
sheep.  Human  beings  become  infected  through  the  han- 
dling of  infected  wool,  hides,  hair  or  fur.  If  infected  wool 
or  other  animal  product  be  not  disinfected  before  leaving 
the  port  of  origin,  the  deadly  spores  remain  dormant  to 
threaten  the  lives  of  any  worker,  say,  in  the  textile  indus- 
try, through  whose  hands  the  material  may  pass  in  course 
of  manufacture.  The  disease  can  be  communicated  through 
the  most  unimportant  cut  or  abrasion  on  the  unfortunate 
worker’s  hands  and  manifests  itself  in  the  form  of  boils, 
ending  in  blood  poisoning,  often  fatal.  Miss  Thirza  Live- 
sley,  a textile  worker  from  Bradford,  England,  appealed  to 
the  delegates  to  pass  the  resolution  providing  for  measures 
of  control  and  thus  help  to  stamp  out  this  pestilence. 

Besides  requesting  efficient  disinfection  at  any  port 
where  large  quantities  of  wool  are  handled,  the  Commission 
asked  for  scientific  investigation  which  would  aim  at  pre- 
venting entirely  the  occurrence  of  this  disease  in  the  animal 
victim  and  mentioned  that  in  one  nation  or  another  steps 
have  already  been  taken  to  deal  with  “dangerous  wool.” 
The  British  Government  has  established  an  experimental 
station  for  disinfection  at  Liverpool  and  at  least  one  other 
country  has  already  passed  legislation  prohibiting  the  im- 
portation of  scheduled  dangerous  wool.  The  Commission 
made  the  significant  suggestion  that  any  international  com- 


226  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


mittee  set  up  should  include  in  addition  to  Government 
representatives  a substantial  number  of  trade  unionists. 

One  of  the  most  vital  questions  discussed  was  that  of 
shortening  the  hours  and  raising  the  industrial  standards 
and  living  conditions  of  agricultural  workers.  The  Con- 
gress took  issue  with  the  governments  of  France  and  Swit- 
zerland, which  have  decided  that  workers  in  agricultural 
pursuits  do  not  come  under  the  control  of  the  International 
Labor  Organization  of  the  League  of  Nations.  It  was 
voted  that  workers  in  agriculture  should  have  the  same 
status  regarding  hours  as  workers  in  factories,  offices  and 
shops.  One  American  delegate  who  had  not  been  quite  dis- 
posed to  think  too  highly  of  her  own  country’s  slow  rate  of 
progress  was  more  than  shocked  to  learn  what  were  the 
standards  that  have  come  down  to  present  day  Europe 
from  the  ages,  so  that  it  was  necessary  to  solemnly  pass  a 
law  saying  that  agricultural  workers  must  not  sleep  in 
barns  and  stables.  The  concluding  clauses  of  the  resolution 
asked  that  agricultural  workers  should  have  the  same  right 
to  combine  as  industrial  workers  and  that  they  be  protected 
against  accident,  illness,  disablement  and  old  age,  with 
distinct  provision  for  the  care  of  country  women  during 
maternity. 

The  present  crisis  in  unemployment,  the  delegates  de- 
clared, is  mainly  due  to  international  causes,  and  therefore 
can  only  be  solved  by  the  re-establishment  of  a normal 
world  trade.  With  this  end  in  view  they  called  upon  all 
countries  to  take  concerted  action  for  the  stabilization  of 
the  value  of  money  and  the  exchange  rates  between  dif- 
ferent countries,  and  also  the  extension  of  credits.  They 
asked,  too,  that  each  country  should  handle  intelligently 
the  problem  of  unemployment  within  its  own  borders ; that 
the  state  should  care  for  the  unemployed;  that  long  hours 
and  overtime  should  be  abolished;  that  the  possibilities  of 


FEDERATION  OF  WORKING  WOMEN  227 


women’s  work  should  be  carefully  considered,  both  from 
the  side  of  training  and  the  possibility  of  permanent  em- 
ployment. Finally,  the  Congress  maintained  that  the  cul- 
tivation of  new  lands  and  better  methods  of  cultivation 
would  greatly  lessen  unemployment. 

It  was  a young  woman  who  led  the  Congress  on  the  ques- 
tion of  disarmament.  Miss  Kate  Manicom,  of  the  Workers’ 
Union  of  Great  Britain,  spoke  on  behalf  of  the  young 
women  of  the  world,  many  of  whom  must  themselves  be 
denied  the  possibility  of  motherhood: 

We  in  this  conference  feel  that  we  can  be  the  mothers  of  the 
world.  We  realize  that  these  great  misunderstandings  have  been 
responsible  for  all  of  the  wars  of  the  world.  We  will  try  to  pre- 
vent with  all  the  force  of  nature  any  repetition  of  the  horrors 
we  have  just  come  through. 

Miss  Manicom  was  deputed  to  carry  to  President  Hard- 
ing and  to  the  Washington  Conference  on  the  Limitation 
of  Armaments,  then  about  to  convene,  a message  asking  for 
total  disarmament.* 

Miss  Gertrude  Baer,  a young  German  girl,  fraternal  dele- 
gate from  the  Women’s  International  League  for  Peace  and 
Freedom,  told  how  the  army  in  Germany  had  been  reduced 
to  one  hundred  thousand  men,  an  army  for  defense  only. 

More  and  more,  as  session  succeeded  session,  was  evident 
the  great  desire  of  the  women  to  come  together.  More  and 
more  did  they  begin  to  recognize  their  common  ignorance 
of  the  limitations  and  opportunities  of  their  different  coun- 


* Miss  Manicom  fulfilled  her  mission  as  one  of  a committee  of 
nationally  representative  women  who  brought  to  President  Harding 
on  November  14,  1921,  the  pledge  of  women  of  over  twenty  nations 
in  the  support  of  his  effort  to  turn  the  mind  of  the  world  to  the 
abolition  of  war. 


228  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


tries.  How  much  had  been  accomplished  two  years  before 
in  the  way  of  building  up  mutual  confidence  and  friendship 
was  evident  in  the  close  sense  of  co-operation  between  those 
women  who  had  worked  together  then  in  Washington. 

One  of  the  greatest  barriers  to  ready  and  perfect  under- 
standing between  national  representatives  on  these  occa- 
sions is  the  barrier  of  language.  As  a step  toward  removing 
that  barrier,  the  French  delegates  in  particular  were  in- 
sistent that  all  delegates  to  a future  congress  should  be  able 
to  speak  Esperanto,  and  that  either  Esperanto  or  some 
other  form  of  expression  selected  as  a universal  language 
should  be  taught  in  the  public  schools  of  every  country 
secondary  only  to  the  native  tongue. 

The  headquarters  of  the  International  Federation  of 
Working  Women  was  set  in  London;  the  secretary,  Dr. 
Marion  Phillips,  an  Australian,  long  resident  in  England; 
Mrs.  Harrison  Bell,  also  of  England,  the  treasurer.  Mrs. 
Raymond  Robins  remains  president.  The  vice-presidents 
are: 


Belgium 

Canada 

Cuba 

Czecho-Slovakia 

France 

Great  Britain 

Italy 

Norway 

Poland 

Sophie  Dobrzanska 

South  Africa 

Switzerland 

Angela  Moimier 

United  States 

At  the  Third  Biennial  Congress  of  the  International  Fed- 
eration of  Working  Women,  in  Vienna,  August,  1923,  Mrs. 
Raymond  Robins  declining  re-election,  Mdlle.  Helene  Bm- 
niaux  of  Belgium  was  elected  president,  the  secretary  being 
Miss  Edith  McDonald  of  London. 


Chapter  XIII 


CONCLUSION 

Women  trade  unionists  meet  with  the  same  difficulties, 
attain  the  same  successes,  and  have  to  solve  the  same  prob- 
lems as  men,  with  certain  complications  in  addition.  What- 
ever is  encouraging  in  the  labor  outlook,  they  share.  What- 
ever new  responsibilities  are  accepted  by  the  labor  move- 
ment as  a whole,  they  must  share.  Whatever  developments, 
anticipated  or  unlooked  for,  may  come  to  pass,  will  affect 
women  as  well  as  men. 

In  the  unorganized  or  the  poorly  organized  trades,  there 
are  great  improvements  needed  in  wages,  hours  and  work- 
ing conditions.  To  obtain  these  improvements  is  the  first 
aim  of  the  labor  organizer.  On  this  efforts  must  be  con- 
centrated. 

In  the  trades  in  which  there  are  a number  of  local  unions, 
and  at  least  a strong  nucleus  of  organized  establishments, 
the  situation  is  different.  The  typographical  unions,  the 
unions  of  waitresses  and  some  others  report  that  though 
their  trade  may  not  be  one  hundred  per  cent  organized 
(that  happy  state  being  still  in  the  distance)  they  have  in 
other  directions  accomplished  more  than  they  at  first  set 
out  to  do.  Emulation  between  competing  establishments 
in  the  same  center,  and  rivalry  between  employers  for  com- 
petent help  has  in  many  cities  resulted  in  so  raising  the 
standards  of  all  that  the  union  has  now  actually  less  to  offer 
than  before.  It  becomes  more  difficult  to  attract  the  girl 
into  the  union,  or  to  organize  the  restaurant,  because  she 
may  be  already  receiving  the  imion  wage,  working  the 

229 


230  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


union  hours,  and  at  the  same  time  is  not  called  on  to  pay 
any  dues.  While  this  is  from  one  angle,  encouraging,  from 
another  the  situation  is  more  baffling. 

The  inference  is  not  the  ready  and  superficial  one,  that 
organization  has  done  its  work,  and  is  no  longer  required 
in  such  occupations.  Were  the  unions  to  slack  on  their  job, 
standards  would  soon  be  lowered.  It  is  now,  therefore, 
the  part  of  labor  to  bring  into  play  new  motives,  to  supply 
their  members  with  fresh  interests,  and  to  study  what 
those  members  desire,  beyond  the  primary  wants  of  better 
economic  conditions. 

Wliat  has  most  to  be  fought  is  the  force  of  inertia,  as 
formidable  an  obstacle  to  advance  in  women  as  in  men. 
Nothing  can  cope  with  this  as  manifested  among  the  workers 
themselves,  except  the  vitalizing  of  the  whole  labor  move- 
ment, by  the  stimulus  of  education,  the  making  use  of  all 
the  untouched  possibilities,  the  energy,  the  ability  that  lie 
unsuspected  in  numbers  of  working  men  and  women.  It 
will  largely  be  experiment.  No  one  yet  knows  how  far 
individual  leaders  must  shoulder  responsibility,  or  just  how 
actively  the  rank  and  file  will  function,  and  function 
effectively. 

It  is  for  the  members  to  say  what  they  seek,  for  the 
leaders  to  help  them  in  the  search,  and  to  satisfy  the  needs, 
ex-pressed  or  only  half  conscious.  There  may  be  channels 
of  expression  which  experience  only  can  discover.  At  pre- 
sent there  are  at  least  several  known  ways  in  which  trade 
unionism  is  developing,  and  through  which  it  is  inspiring  its 
membership  and  calling  forth  their  latent  powers:  the 
co-operative  movement,  the  movement  for  fitting  them- 
selves to  take  part  in  the  control  of  industry’,  the  educa- 
tional movement,  and  the  political  movement. 

If  any  one  of  these  new  developments  is  to  hold  the 
promise  of  the  future,  it  must  grow  among  the  young. 


CONCLUSION 


231 


Therefore  it  is  to  the  young,  young  women  and  young  men 
that  the  future  of  the  labor  movement  is  committed.  May 
they  find  their  inspiration  in  the  words  of  the  late  John 
Davidson. 

TO  THE  GENERATION  KNOCKING  AT  THE  DOOR 

Break — break  it  open;  let  the  knocker  rust; 

Consider  no  “shalt  not,”  and  no  man’s  “must”; 

And,  being  entered,  promptly  take  the  lead, 

Setting  aside  tradition,  custom,  creed: 

Nor  watch  the  balance  of  the  huckster’s  beam: 

Declare  your  hardiest  thought,  your  proudest  dream: 

Await  no  summons:  laugh  at  all  rebuff: 

High  hearts  and  youth  are  destiny  enough. 

The  mystery  and  the  power  enshrined  in  you 
Are  old  as  time  and  as  the  moment  new : 

And  none  but  you  can  tell  the  part  you  play, 

Nor  can  you  tell  until  you  make  assay. 

For  this  alone,  this  always  will  succeed. 

The  miracle  and  magic  of  the  deed. 


SOURCE  LIST  OF  REFERENCES  AND  READING 


Abbott,  Edith,  Women  in  Industry,  Appleton,  1910. 

Abbott,  Grace,  The  Immigrant  and  the  Community,  Century  Co., 
1917. 

Amalgamated  Clothing  Workers,  New  York,  Publications  of. 

American  Federation  of  Labor  History,  Encyclopedia  and  Ref- 
erence Book,  1919. 

American  Federationist  (monthly).  Newsletter  (weekly),  A.  F.  of 
L.,  Washington,  D.  C. 

American  Labor  Year  Book,  Vols.  I,  II,  III,  IV,  1916-1922,  Rand 
School  of  Social  Science. 

Andrews,  Irene  Osgood  and  Hobbs,  Margaretta  A.,  Economic  Ef- 
fects OF  THE  War  upon  Women  and  Children  in  Great  Britain, 
Carnegie  Endowment  for  International  Peace,  1918. 

Andrews,  John  B.  and  Bliss,  W.  P.  D.,  History  of  Women  in  Trade 
Unions  in  the  United  States,  Vol.  X of  the  United  States  Re- 
port on  the  Condition  of  Woman  and  Child  Wage  Earners. 

Andrews,  John  B.,  Labor  Problems  and  Labor  Legislation,  Amer- 
ican Association  for  Labor  Legislation,  1919. 

d’Arusmont,  Frances  Wright,  Biography  and  Notes  of,  Boston,  1848. 

Beard,  Mary,  A Short  History  of  the  American  Labor  Movement, 
Workers’  Education  Bureau,  1922  Series. 

Brandeis,  Louis  D.,  M.  B.  Hammond,  John  A.  Hobson,  Elizabeth  C. 
Watson,  Howard  B.  Woolston,  Case  for  Minimum  Wage,  A 
Symposium,  The  Survey,  Feb.  6,  1915. 

Brown,  Rome  G.,  The  Minimum  Wage  (in  opposition),  Minne- 
apolis 1,  1912. 

Budish,  J.  M.  and  Soule,  George,  The  New  Unionism,  Harcourt 
Brace  and  Howe,  1920. 

Cohen,  Rose,  Out  of  the  Shadow,  Doran,  1918. 

Commons,  John  R.,  Andrews,  John  B.,  Sumner,  Helen  L.  and  others. 
Documentary  History  of  American  Industrial  Society,  Arthur 
H.  Clark  Co.,  Cleveland,  1910. 

Commons,  John  R.  and  Associates,  History  of  Labor  in  the  United 
States,  Macmillan,  1918. 


232 


SOUBCE  LIST 


233 


Commons,  John  R.  and  Andrews,  Jphn  B.,  Principles  of  Labor  Leg- 
islation, Revised  Edition,  Harper,  1920. 

Delzell,  Ruth,  Early  Women  Trade  Unionists,  National  Women’s 
Trade  Union  League  (Pamphlet). 

Derry,  Katherine  and  Douglas,  Paul  H.,  Minimum  Wage  Laws  in 
Canada,  Journal  of  Political  Economy,  April,  1922. 

Fraser,  Helen,  Women  and  War  Work,  Shaw,  1918. 

Goldmark,  Josephine,  Fatigue  and  Efficiency,  Russell  Sage  Founda- 
tion, 1911. 

Heaton,  H.,  The  Basic  Wage  Principle  in  Australian  Wage  Regu- 
lation, Economic  Journal,  London,  September,  1921. 

Henry,  Alice,  The  Trade  Union  Woman,  Appleton,  1915. 

Hewes,  Amy,  and  Walter,  Henriette  R.,  Women  as  Munition- 
Makers,  Russell  Sage  Foundation,  1917. 

Hutchinson,  Emilie  J.,  Women’s  Wages,  Longman,  1919. 

Kellor,  Frances  A.,  Out  of  Work,  Putnam,  Second  Edition  (1915). 

Lilienthal,  Meta  Stem,  From  Fireside  to  Factory  (Booklet),  Rand 
School  Book-Shop,  1916. 

Lowie,  R.  H.,  Primitive  Society,  Boni  and  Liveright,  1920. 

Marot,  Helen,  American  Labor  Unions,  Holt,  1914. 

Mason,  Otis  T.,  Woman’s  Share  in  Primitive  Culture,  Appleton, 
1894. 

Matthews,  Lillian  R.,  Women  in  Trade  Unions  in  San  Francisco, 
University  of  California,  1913. 

National  Consumers’  League,  New  York,  Publications  of. 

National  Women’s  Trade  Union  League  of  America,  Chicago,  Pub- 
lications of,  including: — Life  and  Labor,  1911-1921,  Life  and  Labor 
Bulletin  (monthly).  Proceedings  of  Conventions,  1909-1911- 
1913-1915-1917-1919-1922,  Other  literature. 

National  Woman’s  Party,  Publications  of,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Owen,  Robert,  Life  of  Robert  Owen,  New  Edition,  Knopf,  1920. 

Owen,  Robert  Dale,  Threading  My  Way,  Carleton-Trubner,  1874. 

Peixotto,  Jessica  B.,  Women  of  California  as  Trade  Unionists, 
Association  of  Collegiate  Alumnae,  December,  1908. 

Perkins,  Charlotte  Gilman,  Women  and  Economics,  Small  Maynard, 
1898. 

Rathbone,  Eleanor,  Wages  According  to  Family  Needs,  Economic 
Journal  {London),  December,  1920. 

Ryan,  John  A.,  A Living  Wage  in  its  Ethical  and  Economic  As- 
pects, Macmillan,  1906. 


234  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


Savage,  Marion  Dutton,  Industrial  Unionism  in  America,  Ronald 
Press,  1922. 

Schreiner,  Olive,  Woman  and  Larour,  Stokes,  1911. 

Simons,  A.  M.,  Social  Forces  in  American  History,  Macmillan, 
1914. 

Spencer,  Anna  Garlin,  The  Family  and  Its  Members,  Lijrpincott, 
1923. 

Sumner,  Helen  L.,  Women  in  Industry,  Volume  IX  oj  the  United 
States  Report  on  the  Condition  oj  Woman  and  Child  Wage 
Earners. 

Thomas,  W.  I.,  Sex  and  Society,  University  oj  Chicago  Press,  1907. 

Tyler,  J.  M.,  The  Great  Stone  Age  in  Northern  Europe,  Scribner, 
1921. 

United  States  Census  of  1920,  Occupational  Statistics. 

Veblen,  Thorstein  B.,  The  Instinct  of  Workmanship,  Macmillan, 
1914. 

Waggaman,  Mary  T.,  National  Women’s  Tr.ade  Union  League  of 
America,  Monthly  Labor  Review,  April,  1919. 

Wolfe,  F.  E.,  Admission  to  American  Trade  Unions,  Chapter  FV, 
Johns  Hopkins  Press,  1912. 

Wolman,  Leo,  Extent  of  Trade  Unionism,  Annals  oj  the  Amer. 
Acad,  oj  Political  and  Social  Science,  Vol.  69,  January,  1917. 

Wolman,  Leo,  An  Outline  of  the  American  Labor  Movement 
(Pamphlet  Series  No.  2),  Workers  Education  Bureau  oj  America. 

Wolman,  Leo,  and  others.  The  Clothing  Workers  of  Chicago. 
Joint  Board,  Chicago,  1922. 

Women’s  Bureau,  Department  of  Labor,  Washington,  D.  C.,  Publica- 
tions of,  Annu.al  Reports.  Bulletins,  including  among  others: 
Women  in  Industry,  Home  Work  in  BRmoEPORT,  CoNNT:cncuT, 
Hours  and  Conditions  of  Work  for  Women  in  Industry  in 
Virginia,  Women  in  Government  Service,  Industrial  Oppor- 
tunities AND  Training  for  Women  and  Girls,  The  New  Posi- 
tion of  Women  in  American  Industry,  Wages  for  Working 
Women  in  Kansas,  Negro  Women  in  Industry,  Family  Status 
of  Breadwinning  Women,  The  Occupational  Progress  of 
Women,  The  Women  in  the  Candy  Industry,  Also  Ch.arts, 
Posters,  Maps,  Tables  of  State  Legislation,  Etc.,  Government 
Printing  Office,  Washington. 


INDEX 


A 

AbratQovitch,  Bessie,  121 
Actors,  93 

American  Federation  of  Labor,  98 
Anderson,  Mary,  97,  121,  174, 213 
Anthony,  Susan  B.,  53 

B 

Baer,  Gertrude,  227 
Baker,  Secretary  of  War,  114 
Bagley,  Sarah  G.,  45,  46 
Bamum,  Gertrude,  75,  110 
Barry,  Leonora  M.,  51 
Bar^more,  Ethel,  94 
Basic  Wage  Commission  in  Aus- 
tralia, 157 

Bensley,  Martha  (Mrs.  Robert 
Bruere),  75 
Bibliography,  232 
Black  list,  46 

Board  of  Education,  Chicago,  80 
Bondfield,  Margaret,  213 
Borland,  Representative,  of  Mis- 
souri, 91 

Brandeis,  Louis  D.,  130,  147,  148 
Bryn  Mawr  Summer  School,  115 
Brophy,  Dora,  75 
Bureau  of  Labor  Statistics,  203 
Burke,  Mary,  53 

C 

Cahill,  Helen,  98 
Carey,  Mathew,  41 
Carleton,  Mary  H.,  46 
Child  labor,  214,  216 
Children’s  Bureau,  168,  169 
Christman,  Elisabeth,  98 
Cohn,  Fannia,  82,  97 


Colonial  Woman,  the,  31-36 
business  activities,  35-36 
child  labor,  35 
domestic  production,  32 
economic  position,  34 
her  occupation,  33 
home  industries,  32 
spinning  schools,  35 
Conboy,  Sara  A.,  7 
Congress,  91 

Conference  on  the  Limitation  of 
Armaments,  227 
Constitution,  224 
Czecho-Slovakia,  215 

D 

Daley,  Margaret,  97 
Deaths  in  childbirth,  169 
Dempsey,  Mary,  98 
Department  of  Commerce  and 
Labor,  166 

Department  of  Labor,  166 
Division  of  Negro  Economics, 
203 

Dodge,  Grace,  106 

Donnelly,  Kitty,  97 

Donnelly,  Michael,  110 

Dorr,  Mrs.  Rheta  Childe,  75 

Dreier,  Mary,  116 

Dressier,  Marie,  94 

Duchene,  Madame  Gabrielle,  212 

E 

Early  inventions,  38 
first  power  loom,  38 
Emerson,  Mary,  46 
Equal  rights  by  Federal  Amend- 
ment and  state  blanket  leg- 
islation, 164 


235 


236  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


F 

Factory  fprls,  Association,  42 
Family  wage,  156,  158 
Feldman,  Bernard,  75 
Female  Improvement  Society, 
the,  41 

Fire  hazard,  126 
Fire  prevention,  127 
First  factory  workers,  American 
bom,  39 

Fitzgerald,  Anna,  95 
Fitzpatrick,  John,  87 
Fredericks,  Lillian,  97 
Frincke,  Augusta  J.,  98 
Funk,  Bertha,  121 

G 

Gillespie,  Mabel,  89 
Gilman,  Charlotte  Perkins,  161 
Goggin,  Catherine,  86 
Goldmark,  Josephine,  130,  148 
Gompers,  Samuel,  94,  102,  109 
Goodman,  Sadie,  84 

H 

Haig,  Ethel,  101 
Halas,  Mary  V.,  103 
Haley,  Margaret,  86 
Hamilton,  Dr.  Alice,  124,  188 
Hammond,  Professor  M.  H.,  145 
Harding,  President  Warren  G., 
227 

Hart  Schaffner  & Marx,  83 
Hart  Schaffner  & Marx  agree- 
ment, 119 

Hazardous  occupations,  216 
Henrotin,  Mrs.  Charles,  107 
Hewes,  Amy,  188 
Home  work,  182 
Houck,  Daisy,  97 

I 

Immigrant  workers,  48,  79 
Immigration,  216 
Industrial  hygiene,  123 
dangerous  trades,  124 
munition  factories,  187 
munitions  risks,  125,  126 


Industrial  legislation,  123-142 
advantage  of  shorter  hours,  138 
and  the  war,  190 
and  women,  139 
for  men  and  women,  159 
for  women,  129,  135 
helps  to  standardize  industry, 
142 

lowering  of  standards,  188 
opposition  to,  137 
Ritchie  decision,  147 
standardizing  industry,  134 
state  laws,  130,  179 
state  laws,  table  of,  132 
Infant  death  rate  and  wages,  169 
International  Congress  of  work- 
ing women,  214 
first  congress,  114 
International  Federation  of 

Trade  Unions,  224 
International  Federation  of 

working  women,  212-228 
agricultural  workers,  226 
anthrax,  225 
disarmament,  227 
first  international  congre.ss,  114 
headquarters  in  America,  228 
international  standards,  215 
program,  223 

program  of  Polish  women,  217 
unemployment,  226 
International  Labor  Conference, 
214,  219,  228 
Investigations, 

Federal,  1907-11,  168 
Great  Britain,  146 
in  Australia,  157 
infant  death  rate,  169 
into  the  condition  of  woman 
and  child  wage  earners,  160 
munitions  risks,  188 
Negro  women  in  industry,  203 
New  York  State  Factory  Com- 
mission, 127 
Niagara  Falls,  175 
regulation  of  labor,  51 
Victoria,  143 


INDEX 


237 


J 

Johnson,  Agnes,  98 
Joint  Boarf  of  Sanitary  Con- 
trol, 82 

K 

Katzor,  Clara,  97 
Kelleher,  Mary  95 
Kelley,  Florence,  147 
Kenney,  Mary  (Mrs.  Mary  Ken- 
ney O’Siillivan),  54,  107 
Knights  of  Labor,  51,  107 
Konopska,  Felice,  215 

L 

Lamphere,  Emma,  97 
Lemlich,  Clara,  79 
Leon,  Clara,  83 
Lewis,  Augusta,  96 
Limitation  of  hours,  214 
first  asked,  45^47 
for  men,  141 
1847,  129 
1852,  129 

1876-9,  1898,  129-130 
Illinois,  1915,  130 
Lindstrom,  Ellen,  97 
Linehan,  Peter  F.,  89 
Loeb  Rule,  86 
Long,  Nora,  98 

Lowell  Factory  Girls’  Associa- 
tion, 42 

Lowell,  Josephine  Shaw,  55 
Lowell  Labor  Reform  Associa- 
tion, 45 

M 

Macarthur,  Mary,  146 
Majerova,  Madame,  215 
Maloney,  Elizabeth,  97 
Manicom,  Kate,  227 
Married  women,  160 
Maternity  insurance,  156,  214, 
216 

McDowell,  Mary  E.,  167 


McEnemey,  Mary,  97 
Meehan,  Mary  E.,  98 
Metz,  Edith  Souter,  97 
Minimum  wage,  143-165 
and  Women’s  Trade  Union 
League,  146 

bill  in  Great  Britain  in  1795, 
143 

Canada,  154 
decrees,  131 
in  Great  Britain,  146 
in  New  Zealand,  145 
in  Victoria,  143 
Massachusetts,  148,  153 
Nebraska,  153 
Oregon  case,  149 
rates,  150 
Texas,  153 

wage  board  procedure,  145 
Mitchell,  Louisa  M.,  41 
Moran,  Mary  E.,  98 
Morgan,  Thomas  G.,  53 
Morgan,  Mrs.  Thomas  G.,  54 
Morris,  Max,  110 
Mother’s  pensions,  131,  156 
Mullaney,  Kate,  74 

N 

Nason,  Mary  A.,  97 
National  Consumers  League,  56, 
130 

National  Industrial  Congress,  44 
National  Woman’s  Party,  163 
National  Young  Women’s  Chris- 
tian Association,  193 
Neary,  Anna,  95,  98 
Negro  men  and  women  in  trade 
unions,  210 
Negro  slavery,  46 
Negro  women,  121,  177,  202-211 
and  factory  conditions,  205 
and  race  relations,  207 
and  seasonal  trades,  206 
and  the  department  stores,  205 
and  wages,  205 
in  Chicago,  208 
in  Decatm,  Illinois,  209 
in  Detroit,  209 
in  metal  trades,  204 
in  needle  trades,  204 


238  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


Negro  women, 

in  Newark,  New  Jersey,  209 
investigation  of,  in  industry, 
203 

report  of  Women’s  Bureau,  202 
Negro  workers,  102 
Nestor,  Agnes,  97 
Night  work,  216 

O 

Obenauer,  Marie,  170 
O’Brien,  John,  110 
O’Connor,  Julia,  97 
Occupational  statistics,  161 
Occupations, 
automobile  industry,  209 
baking  and  candy  making,  59 
boot  and  shoe  workers,  60 
bottling,  60 
bookbinding,  59 
biologists,  92 
car  cleaners,  62 
clerks,  92 
cigar  making,  63 
cap  makers,  117 
corset  workers,  119 
car  conductors,  198 
doctors,  92 

department  store  employees, 
205 

domestic,  209 

electrical  workers,  64 

editors,  92 

foundry  work,  210 

flagmaking,  92 

furriers,  64 

glass  blowing,  61 

glove  making,  66 

government  employment,  90 

hat  making,  61 

janitresses,  209 

investigators,  92 

librarians,  92 

leather  work,  69 

laundry  work,  68 

matrons,  92 

metal  trades,  195,  204 

mining,  210 

Negro  women,  202-211 


Occupations, 

needle  trades,  72,  76,  204,  209 
nurses,  92 

office  work,  208,  209 
of  women,  statistics,  57 
postoffice  clerk,  69 
printing,  70 
packing  trades,  69,  206 
railway  clerks,  63 
restaurant  work,  67 
railroad  telegraphers,  70 
shoe  making,  40,  55,  77 
shirt  and  collar  industry,  73 
statisticians,  92 
stenographers,  92 
stage  performers,  93 
steel  industry,  206 
textiles,  194 
timber  working,  196 
telephone  operating,  88 
teaching,  86 
typists,  92 

textile  industry,  37,  72,  76 
tobacco  making,  40 
upholstering,  70 

Official  appointment  trade  union 
women,  192 

Ordnance  Department,  173 
O’Reilly,  Leonora,  55 
O’Reilly,  Mary,  51 
O’Sullivan,  John  F.,  108 
O’Sullivan,  Mary  Kenney,  54, 
109 

Overwork,  180,  181 
Owen,  Robert  Dale,  43 

P 

Paterson,  Emma,  109 
Poland,  215 
Post,  Louis  F.,  166 
Pojmtz,  Juliet  Stuart,  82 
Primitive  woman  in  industry, 
23-30 

as  a producer,  25 
as  agriculturist,  26,  28 
as  inventor  and  creator,  25 
her  achievements.  24 
her  social  power,  29 
Protocol,  the,  80 


INDEX 


239 


B 

Rankin,  Jeannette,  191 
Rankin,  Mildred,  121 
Ritchie  case,  1893,  130 
Robins,  Mrs.  Raymond,  115,  219 
Rodgers,  Mrs.  George,  107 
Rosa,  Dr.  E.  B.,  quoted,  92 
Russell  Sage  Foundation,  173 

S 

Sanitation  a century  ago,  39 
Santora,  Mamie,  98 
Schneiderman,  Rose,  117,121,213 
Scott,  Melinda,  95 
Seasonal  trades,  140,  206 
Shepherd,  Miriam,  219 
Shields,  Emma  L.,  203 
Shoe  makers,  47 

Short  hours  approved  by  em- 
ployers, 189 
Smith,  Charlotte,  52 
Snyder,  Anna,  83 
Source  list  of  references  and 
reading,  232 

Standards  in  industry,  192 
State  women’s  bureaus,  185 
Steghageu,  Emma,  97,  107 
Stevens,  Alzina  P.,  107 
Stokes,  Miss,  75 
Stone,  Huldah,  46 
“Strike  of  the  Forty  Thousand,’’ 
117 

Strikes,  67,  79,  80,  117 
Boston  policemen’s  strike,  118 
children’s,  116 
first  strike,  41 

Troy  laundry  workers’,  1869 
and  1905,  74 
Stychova,  Madame,  215 
Swartz,  Mrs.  Maud,  121,  219 

T 

Tansey,  James,  110 
Ten-hour  day,  45 
Terry,  Mary,  75 
Thompson,  Mary,  121 
Tobin,  John  P.,  110 
Townsend,  Fannie  Lee,  46 


Trade  unions,  national  and  local, 
j Actors’  Equity  Association,  93 
^ Amalgamated  Clothing  Work- 
' ers  of  America,  71,  78,  83 
! Amalgamated  Meat  Cutters 
i and  Butcher  Workmen  of 
1 North  America,  69,  110 
Amalgamated  Sheet  Metal 
Workers’  International  Alli- 
ance, 100 

American  Federation  of  Labor, 
51,  93,  96,  101,  108 
American  Federation  of  Teach- 
ers, 87 

American  Federation  of  Tex- 
tile Operatives,  72 
Bakery  and  Confectionery 
Workers,  59 

Boot  and  Shoe  Workers  Union, 
54,  60,  77,  78 

Boston  Central  Labor  Body. 
43 

Chorus  girls,  94 
Cigar  Makers  International 
Union,  53,  63 

Daughters  of  St.  Crispin,  47 
Federal  Labor  Union,  Wo- 
men’s, 107 

Federation  of  Labor,  Chicago, 
82,  86 

Female  Labor  Reform  Asso- 
ciation, 45 
first  women’s,  40 
foreign  unions,  221 
fur  workers,  78 
glass  bottle  blowers,  61 
glove  workers,  78 
hotel  and  restaurant  employ- 
ees, 54,  67 

Industrial  Congress  at  Boston, 
46 

International  Association  of 
Machinists,  100 
International  Brotherhood  of 
Electrical  Workers,  64 
International  Brotherhood  of 
Bookbinders,  59 
International  Brotherhood  of 
Foundry  Employees.  100 
International  Fur  Workers 
Union,  64 


240  WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMENT 


Trade  unions,  national  and  local, 
International  Glove  Workers 
of  America,  66 

International  Ladies  Garment 
Workers,  53,  78,  110 
International  Metal  Polishers’ 
Union,  100 

International  Molders’  Union, 
99,  100 

International  Typographical 
Union,  The,  70 

International  Union  of  Timber 
Workers,  101 

International  Union  of  United 
Brewery,  Flour,  Cereal  and 
Soft  Drinks  Workers,  60 
Journeyman  Barbers’  Interna- 
tiona Union,  99 
Knights  of  Labor,  50 
Knights  of  St.  Crispin,  47 
Industrial  Workers  of  the 
World,  73 

International  Ladies  Garment 
Workers,  65 

International  Workingmen’s 
Association,  49 

Labor  Reform  Associations,  46 
Lowell  Female  Labor  Reform 
Association,  45 

Laundry  W'orkers  Interna- 
tional Union,  68 
National  Federation  of  Fed- 
eral Employes,  90 
National  Federation  of  Post- 
office  Clerks,  69 
National  Trade  Union,  42 
new  developments,  230 
New  England  Labor  Reform 
League,  46 

New  England  Working  Men’s 
Association,  44,  45 
Parasol  and*Umbrella  Makers’ 
Union,  109 
Railway  Carmen,  62 
Railway  and  Steamship 
Clerks,  63 

railroad  telegraphers,  70 
retail  clerks,  110 
Retail  Clerks’  International 
Protective  Union,  110 
reefer  makers,  79 


Trade  unions,  national  and  local. 
Shirt  Sewers’  Union,  44 
shoe  binders,  43 
shoe  workers,  110 
teachers,  86 

telephone  operators,  88 
Telephone  Operators  Depart- 
ment, 90 

textile  workers,  110 
"The  Female  ^ciety  of  Ljmn 
and  Vicinity,”  43 
Troy  Federation  of  Labor,  75 
Typographical  Union,  53 
. Unit^  Brotherhood  of  Car- 
penters and  Joiners,  99,  101 
United  Cloth  Hat  and  Cap 
Makers,  61,  78 

United  Garment  Workers  of 
America,  54,  65,  78,  82,  110 
United  Hatters,  78 
United  Leather  Workers,  69 
United  States  Shoe  Workers 
of  America,  73 

United  Textile  Workers,  53,  72 
Upholsterers’  International 
Union,  70,  95 

White  Goods  Workers  of 
Paris,  228 

Working  Women’s  Association 
of  New  York,  48 
Woman’s  National  Industrial 
League,  52 

Working  Women’s  Protective 
Union,  48,  109 

Working  Women’s  Society  of 
New  York,  55 

Women’s  Typographical  Union, 
109 

Women’s  Union  in  the  Bureau 
of  Engraving  and  Printing, 
90 

Triangle  Fire,  118 
Tulloch,  Ethel  E.,  98 

U 

Unemployment,  216 
United  States  Ordnance  Depart- 
ment, 114 


INDEX 


24.1 


V 

Valesh,  Eva  McDonald,  54 

Van  Etten,  Ida,  54 

Van  Kleeck,  Mary,  173,  177 

W 

Wages,  42 
Waight,  Lavinia,  41 
Walling,  William  English,  109 
War  Labor  Administration,  191 
Wilson,  William  B.,  114,  166,  191 
Wilson,  President  Woodrow,  114 
White,  Harry,  110 
Woman  in  Industry  Service,  175, 
176 

Woman  Suffrage,  44,  48,  49 
Women  and  admission  to  unions, 
98 

and  economic  struggles,  104 
and  machine  industry  in  Eng- 
land in  eighteenth -century, 
37 

and  new  opportunities,  201 
and  positions  of  leadership, 
98,  112,  113 
as  car  conductors,  198 
as  organizers,  96,  111,  112 
as  technical  advisers,  215 
Women  in  Industry  Committee 
of  the  Council  of  National 
Defense,  114 

Women  in  the  home,  162 
Women  in  War-Time  Industries, 
186-201 
lumber,  196 


Women  in  War-Time  Industries, 
metals,  195 
textiles,  194 

Women’s  auxiliaries,  104 
Women’s  Bureau,  166-185,  re- 
ports, 178 

Women’s  Division,  168,  169 
Women’s  International  League 
for  Peace  and  Freedom,  227 
Women’s  Trade  Union  League, 
National  and  Local,  75.  80, 
89,  95,  102,  106-122,  166,  213, 
214,  228 

and  fire  prevention,  118 
and  legislation.  111,  120 
and  minimum  wage,  146 
and  organization.  111,  118,  119 
and  the  Women’s  Bureau,  113 
and  vocational  training,  114 
Boston,  118 
British,  109 
Chicago,  119 

Federal  Labor  Union,  Wo» 
men’s,  108 
its  philosophy,  122 
Kansas  City  Convention,  114 
national  convention,  98 
New  York,  116 
program,  113 
Woodhull,  Victoria,  49 
Workers  Education,  81,  84 
Bryn  Mawr  Summer  School, 
120 

Training  School  for  Women 
Organizers,  120 
Working  Men’s  Party,  44 
Wright,  Frances,  43 


THE  WORKERS’  BOOKSHELF 


In  our  modern  industrial  society,  knowledge  increases 
more  rapidly  than  our  understanding.  The  rapid  accumu- 
lation of  this  unrelated  knowledge  greatly  adds  to  the  com- 
plexity and  confusion  of  our  life.  As  a result,  the  industrial 
worker  finds  it  increasingly  difficult  to  understand  the 
world  which  he  has  done  so  much  to  create.  The  task  of 
workers’  education  is  to  interpret  modem  industrial  society 
to  the  worker  that  he  may  better  understand  his  relation- 
ship to  the  industry  in  which  he  works  and  to  the  society 
in  which  he  lives. 

The  Workers’  Bookshelf  has  been  conceived  as  a con- 
scious attempt  to  meet  this  need  for  the  workers  for  social 
understanding  by  a restatement  of  some  of  the  fundamental 
problems  of  modern  industrial  society  in  simple  language. 
The  bookshelf  has  been  designed  primarily  to  satisfy  the 
cultural  aspirations  of  the  men  and  women  workers  in 
industry.  The  books  will  not  be  limited  either  in  the  range 
of  subjects  or  in  number.  Art,  literature,  natural  sciences, 
as  well  as  the  social  sciences,  will  be  included.  New  titles 
will  be  added  as  the  demand  for  them  becomes  apparent. 
In  a strict  sense  these  books  may  become  text-books  for  use 
in  the  development  of  the  movement  for  workers’  education. 
In  a larger  sense  they  will  become  the  nucleus  of  a library 
for  workingmen.  The  fact  that  these  titles  are  prepared 
for  a particular  group  will  not  restrict  their  interest  for  the 
general  reader,  it  will  enhance  it. 


THE  WORKERS’  BOOKSHELF 


In  form  and  appearance,  the  Workers’  Bookshelf  pre- 
sents certain  distinctive  features.  Scholarship,  a scientific 
attitude  toward  facts,  and  simplicity  of  style  will  prevail. 

The  books  on  the  social  sciences  will  be  evolved  from 
human  experience.  Each  volume  will  begin  as  a class  out- 
line and  will  receive  the  suggestions  and  criticisms  of  the 
men  and  women  who  are  the  human  factors  in  the  industrial 
world.  Each  book  will  be  adequately  brief  that  it  may 
present  the  subject  clearly  without  becoming  an  exhaustive 
treatise.  References  will  help  the  reader  to  more  detailed 
sources,  a large  clear  type-page  will  facilitate  reading. 
Finally,  the  books  will  be  bound  in  paper  and  sold  at  a price 
within  the  range  of  all. 

The  Workers’  Bookshelf  will  contain  no  volumes  on 
trade  training  nor  books  which  give  short  cuts  to  material 
success.  The  reasons  which  will  finally  determine  the 
selection  of  titles  for  the  Workers’  Bookshelf  will  be  because 
they  enrich  life,  because  they  illumine  hmnan  experience, 
and  because  they  deepen  men’s  understanding. 


EDITORIAL  COMMITTEE 

The  Workers^  Bookshelf 

CHABLES  A.  BEAED 
JOHN  H.  COMMONS 
FANNIA  M.  COHN 
H.  W.  L.  DANA 
JOHN  P.  FREY 
ARTHUR  GLEASON 
WALTON  HAMILTON 
EVERETT  DEAN  MARTIN 
SPENCER  MILLER,  JR. 

GEORGE  W.  PERKINS 
FLORENCE  C.  THORNE 
MATTHEW  WOLL 


ROBERT  B.  WOLF 


THE  WORKERS’  BOOKSHELF 

Now  Published: 

THE  HUMANIZING  OF  KNOWLEDGE 

James  Harvey  Robinson 

Author  of  “The  Mind  in  the  Making,”  ‘Tetrarch,  The  First  Modem 
Scholar,”  “History  of  Western  Europe,”  “The  New  History,”  etc. 

THE  CONTROL  OF  WAGES 

Walton  Hamilton,  ph.  d. 

Professor  of  Economics,  Amherst  College;  Instructor,  Amherst  Classes 
for  Workers. 

and  Stacy  May 

Instructor  in  Economics,  Brookwood,  A Workers’  College 
WOMEN  AND  THE  LABOR  MOVEMF.NT 
Alice  Henry 

Editor  “Life  and  Labor,”  Director  of  Training  School  for  Women 
Workers  in  Industry. 

JOINING  IN  PUBLIC  DISCUSSION 

A STUDY  OF  EFFECTIVE  3PEECHMAKTNG  FOR  MEMBERS  OF  LABOR  UNION'S, 
CONFERENCES,  FORUMS,  AND  OTHER  DISCUSSION  GROUPS 

Alfred  Dwight  Shield 

Associate  Professor  of  Rhetoric  in  Wellesley  College;  Instructor  in 
Public  Dbcussion  at  Boston  Trade  Union  College. 

In  Preparation: 

THE  POLICIES  OF  AMERICAN  TRADE  UNIONS 
Leo  Wolman,  ph.  d. 

Lecturer,  New  School  for  Social  Research;  Instructor,  Workers’  Uni- , 
versity.  International  Ladies’  Garment  Workers’  Union. 

COOPERATIVE  MOVEMENT  j 

James  B.  Warhasse,  m.  d. 

President  of  the  Cooperative  League  of  America,  Author  “Cooperative 
Democracy.” 

WORKERS’  HEALTH 

Emery  R.  Hayhurst,  ph.  d.,  m.  d. 

Professor  of  Public  Health  and  Sanitation,  Ohio  State  University 
Author  of  “Industrial  Health  Hazards  and  Occupational  Diseases.” 

Published  for 

WORKERS’  EDUCATION  BUREAU  OF  AMERIC.^ 
476  WEST  24th  STREET,  NEW  YORK,  U.  S.  A.  i 


, 


t 


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